Barcelona: City for the Future

Barcelona is shaping itself into a city of the future. This goal includes embracing the integration of drones for productive uses including deliveries, inspections, and public safety, while also considering how to manage lower airspace traffic and differentiate between authorized and unauthorized drones or even malicious drones.

An initial Dedrone installation launched in November 2020 revealed between 120-200 unauthorized drone alerts per day and a 60% increase of unauthorized drone activity over the six-month assessment period.

The high-security stakes challenge for Barcelona was clear: to protect civilians and infrastructure against the growing threat of unauthorized drones.

Leveraging Dedrone’s smart airspace security solution, the Mossos d'Esquadra have created a 50 km (about 31 mi)²airspace security safe zone across the entire core of Barcelona, protecting internationally renowned tourist destinations, corporate and shopping districts, residential areas, and a port. The city-wide coverage uses a dozen sensors and Dedrone software to detect, track, and identify over 200 different drone types and locate their pilots.

With public safety as the highest priority, the Catalonian Police implemented Dedrone for airspace security across Barcelona. They can now monitor Barcelona airspace for all drone activity, including higher risk areas like the port, the tourist / shopping district, and large gathering events. In fact, during the 2022 Formula 1 race, from qualifications to race day, the Mossos successfully enforced the no-fly zone for 3 days by responding to 260 drone alerts. With Dedrone’s solution, the Mossos were able to differentiate friend from foe drones, allowing for authorized drones to fly safely.