Spotify Camp Nou Kuppel security shield

Article posted by Coliseum, March 1^st, 2023

Image: Coliseum GSVA

Although drones can be simple tools for entertainment or video and photo recording, they can also pose a threat to public safety. To combat the same, the Government of Catalonia (Spain), through the Mossos d’Esquadra (autonomous police force), promoted the Kuppel project in 2020, a system to protect the airspace from these devices in different parts of Catalonia.

‘FC Barcelona’ stated that the LaLiga club FC Barcelona home ground – Spotify Camp Nou – will also be integrated into the Kuppel project following a deal struck recently by the President of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, and the Minister of the Interior of Catalonia, Joan Ignasi Elena.

Aiding the top-flight to step up its defence against potential drone incursions will be the Mossos d’Esquadra. The above deal will also help Barça to further fortify its security apparatus.

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Futbol Club Barcelona, commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça, is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in LaLiga, the top flight of Spanish football.

The 99,354-capacity Camp Nou, officially branded as the Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelona since its completion in 1957.

The Mossos d’Esquadra, also known as the Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya and informally as Mossos, is the autonomous police force responsible for law enforcement in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. They trace their origins back to squads formed in 1719.

‘FC Barcelona’ further stated that as part of the deal, in the coming weeks, portable antennas equipped with cameras and sensors will be installed at different points of Spotify Camp Nou, which will reinforce the current security system and as well as the aerial security of the stadium against drone incursions within a radius of more than two kilometers.

The Kuppel system comprises several subsystems that will facilitate in obtaining information from the devices that fly over this airspace, alert them against potential threats, move them away and, if necessary, immediately disable them.

The Spotify Camp Nou has an anti-drone system in place since 2017, following the terror attacks that took place in Barcelona and Cambrils.

With the installation of these sensors, the Spotify Camp Nou will become the first stadium in Spain to be integrated into the Kuppel system.

The Kuppel project – approved by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – was established in 2020 as a means to protect Catalonia’s airspace from drones and is currently employed at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport, as well as at the Tarragona petrochemical complex in Catalonia.

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