Affiliations: [a] Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques
(IGOP-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), Mòdul de Recerca
A, Barcelona, Spain | [b] Universidad de Burgos, Spain
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Gemma Galdon Clavell, PhD candidate,
Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques (IGOP-UAB), Universitat
Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), Mòdul de Recerca A, 08193 Barcelona,
Spain. E-mail: gemma.galdon@uab.cat
Abstract: Over the last two decades the use of video surveillance has grown in
scope and numbers. However, research on the national contexts that have driven
such developments tends to concentrate on Northern and Western Europe. This
article explores the situation of CCTV in Spain, its legal framework, perceived
shortcomings, public perceptions and specificity – such as a pre-9/11 concern
for terrorism but its minimal impact on the justification for CCTV, a
rights-based and a priori control of video surveillance devices and a
deployment pattern that differs from those identified in the literature on CCTV
at the European and global level. In providing an account on how Spain has
joined the 'surveillance society', it exposes a picture of unevenness, legal
loopholes and resistance, and provides a unique overview of CCTV deployment in
a Southern-European, post-authoritarian country.
Keywords: CCTV, Spain, video surveillance, terrorism, resistance
