Alhambra vs The Drones

The Alhambra Heritage Board is fed up with drones making unauthorised flights over the Alhambra, so they're doing something about it.

AND Alhambra OnLThe Board says the crack down is for safety reasons (a drone crashing into somebody, for example) so they are going to use tracking equipment around the monument.

There have been so many visits by drones that starting this July security staff put into place a protocol which involves locating the drone operators and passing the information on to the Policía Nacional so that the culprits can be fined, if applicable.

So far this year, 28 drone operators have ‘invaded’ this national monument, which is not permitted – drones are subject to strict control, which forbids them from flying near people or buildings. However, if the Board gives a film producer, for example, to use a drone for a promotional documentary, that is a different matter.

The Policía Nacional has a special department in the city charged with controlling the use of drones within the city. The officers are equipped with detector apparatus capable of locating the operator within a radius of four kilometres. It also has an inhibitor capability so that they can block the signal between the drone and the person controlling it.

It is not easy, either, to obtain permission to over fly the city because of military installations in Armilla and the heliport on top of the PTS hospital. Permission must be obtained from the military authorities (Estado Mayor del Ejército del Aire).

As for fines, they go from minor offence (60 euros) to severe (4.5m euros).

Editorial comment: call me cynical but another factor that must concern the Alhambra Heritage Board is that people who operate drones are getting free visits and taking images and footage to boot.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

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