ABSTRACT

There are currently 1 24 closed-circuit television cameras monitoring the streets and squares of Barcelona (Spain), and over 200 protecting the perimeter and entrance of the city's official and historic buildings. It is difficult to calculate the total number of videosurveillance cameras in open, public space in the country, but since in most Spanish provincial capitals CCTV is counted by the dozens excluding perimeter surveillance and cameras in public transport and public transport infrastructure, such as stations — the figure is unlikely to be over 5,000. 2 Compared to the 27,000 of France (Germain et al. 2012) or the 4.2 million of Great Britain (Norris and McCahill 2006), these numbers would seem rather insignificant. However, the wealth of data available about most of those cameras and the political and policy process that accompanied their installation, especially in Barcelona and the Catalan region, 3 provide a rare and privileged perspective on the processes that shape and are shaped by the decision to install CCTV in urban public space — the political economy of surveillance in urban areas.