This is how security measures are being prepared for New Year's Eve and Three Kings' Day: "We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario"

BarcelonaThe room is large and spacious, with many screens on strategically placed tables. Arranged in a semicircle, they all face the same point: a wall with even larger screens displaying feeds from some of Barcelona's security cameras. They can see all the cameras in the city. This joint police control room is located on Lleida Street. During the Olympic Games, it served as the competition's server room, but for the last 20 years, it has been a nerve center for city security. Officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) and the Guardia Urbana (Barcelona's Municipal Police) are present. Next door is another room for the Barcelona Fire Department. On one screen, there is a Excel The system is color-coded: green indicates available resources, and red indicates those currently in use. Today, almost everything is green. It's a quiet day, but those in charge explain that these rooms are bustling with activity on key dates. Two important dates are coming up: New Year's Day and the Three Kings' Day parade.

However, preparations to ensure the safety of these events begin much earlier. Chief Superintendent Jordi Guerrero, head of the Coordination Division of the Barcelona Municipal Police, explains that the planning for large-scale operations begins precisely when the previous year's operations conclude. At that point, a review is conducted, assessing what went well and what didn't, and all of this is incorporated into the following year's plan. "We start from the precedent and adapt it to the new scenario we will face," states the Chief Superintendent. New Year's Eve and Three Kings' Day are recurring dates, which simplifies planning, but there are other events that are new and must be studied from scratch. This is the case with the Tour de France, for example, which will start in Barcelona next summer and for which preparations have been underway since last February. With the America's Cup, they began two and a half years in advance. There are also other events that must be adapted year after year to accommodate their growth, such as the Christmas lights switch-on. Years ago, around 500 people would gather at Portal de l'Àngel, while in the last edition, 45,000 gathered.

Hundreds of people in Maria Cristina

On New Year's Eve, this number can rise to 120,000 people gathered on Maria Cristina Avenue. The biggest concern at these large gatherings is the safety of the surrounding area, especially given the terrorist alert. One of the main tasks is to erect barriers and demarcate spaces. In fact, the Barcelona City Police are working on new software to show, in real time on a map of Barcelona, ​​where measures are being taken—from patrols and street closures to barriers and other types of street furniture. Héctor Carmona, head of the Civil Protection and Coordination Division of the Barcelona Fire Department, points out that there are many measures that are not visible or that the public may not understand, and one of them is the evacuation routes, which must be present in all crowded areas.

There are more measures, such as closing traffic in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to divert cars onto the ring roads and prevent them all from ending up on narrow streets, which would clog up Barcelona. Or closing the nearest metro stations to avoid overcrowding. "The metro is a high-risk area," Carmona points out. All of this must include a security checkpoint manned by officers with metal detectors to confiscate knives from people entering Plaça Espanya. And planning where each ambulance, each fire truck, even each portable toilet should go. And, finally, comes a very important part: evacuating people so that cleaning crews can enter. "The city must return to normal," Guerrero reminds us.

In the worst-case scenario

These two city security officials are used to preparing for the worst-case scenario. They say they have to in order to anticipate everything. "You always have to think the worst; human creativity is limitless," they explain. They've encountered bus shelters with 20 people crammed on top of them. People clinging to flagpoles like koalas. And others who take off their shoes and stand inside the Montjuïc fountains to get, they say, a better view of the show.

For the Three Kings' Day parade, the risk is also very high because the public is "very sensitive," Guerrero points out, since it's mostly children. Besides the main parade, there are 18 other parades taking place throughout the city at that time, spread across different neighborhoods. "Almost everyone stays at work that day, even if it's not their scheduled shift," Guerrero explains regarding the officers of the Guardia Urbana (Barcelona's municipal police). It's an event that lasts about four hours and covers a large part of the city center. It's a five-kilometer route. And they admit that it's difficult to manage, since they can't put up barriers in case of an evacuation. With more than 700,000 people gathered in total, both experts agree that the most magical night, Three Kings' Day, is also, without a doubt, one of the most complicated security operations of the year.