Figueres installs 30 number plate cameras at town entrances

Figueres has started fitting number plate recognition cameras at the main roads into the town. The first 30 cameras will cover 14 points and are expected to start operating in November.

The local council (Ajuntament) began installing the equipment this week. The project costs €400,670.80. Its stated aims are to monitor traffic and improve public safety.

The cameras will not go live until the council finishes expanding the data and image processing centre at the headquarters of the Guàrdia Urbana, the town's municipal police force. That control room is where footage and alerts will be viewed and managed.

Where the cameras will be

The contract was awarded to Tecnologias Viales Aplicadas (TEVA). The 30 cameras will be spread across entrances on the town's main approach roads:

• Vilatenim
• the Roses road (C-260)
• the Llançà-Portbou road (N-260)
• the Llers road (GIP-5106)
• the Olot road (N-260)
• the N-IIa south, towards Vilamalla
• the N-IIa north, towards la Jonquera

For readers in Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries, the C-260 location matters most. Many people use this route to reach Figueres, whether for shopping, appointments or the train station.

How the system works

The cameras read vehicle number plates as cars enter and leave Figueres. The system includes alert management, so the Guàrdia Urbana can be notified when a flagged vehicle passes.

According to the council, the main purpose is to keep the town safe through deterrence: visible cameras should discourage crime.

Figueres mayor Jordi Masquef said the cameras "will allow us to know which vehicles enter and leave Figueres and to detect whether any of them is wanted by the police or linked to a crime." He added that this would let police forces act faster. "We are protecting Figueres with more tools for our police, more control of the access routes and more capacity to prevent and investigate crime in coordination with all police forces," he said.

Part of a wider surveillance plan

The number plate readers are one stage of a larger urban video surveillance project that Figueres began earlier this year.

In June, the town installed its first public surveillance cameras in the centre. Ten 360-degree cameras now monitor public safety and tourist flows in the Rovell de l'Ou, the historic heart of Figueres. It was the first time the town had used cameras of this kind.

That first phase cost €248,050. Of this, €146,136.48 came from the EU's Next Generation recovery funds, and the council paid the remaining €101,913.52 from its own budget.

The ten cameras are located at:

• the Rambla, at its upper end and at the small square at the lower end
• the Pujada del Castell, at plaça de la Tramuntana and at the junction with carrer Llers
• plaça de l'Ajuntament, the town hall square
• carrer Besalú
• carrer Monturiol, in front of the house where Salvador Dalí was born
• plaça Triangular
• carrer Sant Pau

A second phase will extend coverage to other busy areas, including plaça Catalunya and plaça de l'Estació, the station square. The council says the centre cameras will be expanded soon.

Four stages in total

The council describes the number plate cameras as the project's "third ring". They are due to be working before the end of the year, alongside the upgraded control centre at the Guàrdia Urbana headquarters.

The final stage will target illegal dumping. Cameras will be placed at the main spots where rubbish is regularly left, with the aim of monitoring and preventing it.

Taken together, the plan covers the historic centre, other busy public spaces, the road entrances to the town and known dumping sites.

Our Take

This is one of the clearest signs yet that Figueres, the capital of the Alt Empordà, is betting on technology to handle security. Within a few months the town has gone from having no public surveillance cameras to planning a network that covers its centre, its squares and every main road in.

The timing is notable. Recent figures showed crime falling in Figueres and Roses, even as drug offences rose. The council appears to be building on that trend rather than reacting to a surge, although it has not linked the two directly.

For residents of Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries, the practical effect is simple: anyone driving into Figueres on the Roses road will pass a camera that records their number plate. For most drivers this should change nothing day to day.

It is worth watching whether the council gives more detail on how long plate data will be kept and who can access it, points the announcement did not address. Another question is whether the November start date holds, since it depends on the control centre upgrade. Neighbouring towns may also look at Figueres as a test case for similar systems on their own approach roads.