Authorisation given to install 19 cameras in Granada's graffiti hotspots

The Andalusian High Court of Justice (TSJA) has approved nineteen new surveillance cameras for Granada as the city continues to wage war with graffiti artists that are targetting its historical monuments, including the Alhambra Palace. The city hall will install the 19 cameras in the coming months in different parts of the Albaicín and the centre of Granada.

"We have already started the tendering process; I hope they will be up and running before September," said deputy mayor of Granada, Jorge Saavedra.

Where will they be placed? Thirteen will be located in the San Miguel Alto area and will cover Calles Ermita, Carril de San Miguel, Camino del Almanzora and Carril de la Muralla Alberzana. The rest will be in Mirador de San Nicolás, Callejón de Atarazana, Placeta de los Carvajales, Cruz de Quirós, Duquesa and López Argüeta. They will be added to those already existing in many other critical points such as the Arco de las Pesas, the Aljibe del Rey or the Huerta de San Vicente.

These measures are in addition to others already adopted by the city hall or which are in the pipeline, as Saavedra explains. Among those already adopted, the toughening of sanctions, ranging from 3,000 euros when acting against private property to 250,000 euros when it is an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) and 30,000 euros when the damage is on municipal property.

The city hall is also drafting a report in which it will evaluate the methods of restoration of the walls of each monument as well as a new cleaning contract which will include two new teams hired specifically to to eradicate the graffiti.

Approval for the new cameras came as the city's cleaning service worked hard to remove ten new graffiti that appeared on Monday 19 May on Plaza Gerardo Cuerva. "We are acting as quickly as we can to prevent them from continuing to proliferate," said Saavedra.

Pablo García, director of the city's cleaning service Inagra said, "We have three of our specialists here. We work every day from Monday to Saturday, and always depending on where the municipal technical services tell us to go." In this case, the report came from Councillor Francis Almohalla, but there are usually three sources of information: Inagra's own workers (around 600), citizens and city hall staff.

"Our workers have the training and the equipment to carry out these tasks with total guarantees," explains the Inagra manager. In the case of more porous surfaces, a combination of paint stripper - a solvent - and pressurised water at a temperature of ninety degrees is necessary. In the case of smooth areas a solvent and a good cloth normally do the job. Other times it is necessary to resort to repainting.