Paloma Velasco (AES): "To protect heritage, you need to have the right facilities”.
To protect heritage from external threats you need to have the right facilities and tools for this purpose, as Paloma Velasco, executive manager of the Spanish Association of Security Companies, warns us. One example of this is the solutions that help to prevent squatting.
Paloma Velasco Merino states that, in general, in order to protect property, it is first necessary to have the right facilities for this purpose. Indeed, the executive manager of the Spanish Association of Security Companies explains that "when the ministerial orders were approved in 2011 and the Private Security Law in 2014, a deadline was established for the adaptation of all facilities, which ends on 31 December 2023".
Thus, "we ensure that all facilities are suitable and comply with the respective security grade, which ranges from grade one (low risk facilities such as homes), grade two (low/medium risk, small businesses), grade three (medium/high risk, establishments required by law) and grade four (high risk, critical infrastructures)". Once the suitability of the installations has been checked, we must ensure the protection of property and, more importantly, of people's lives.
Prevention, the best formula
Velasco gives an example of the importance of protecting facilities: "Every day we hear on the news about the problem of squatting in private homes" and adds that "the solutions provided by security companies are helping to make it more difficult for squatting to take place".
Thus, she affirms that "our companies are ready to offer this security to society, they are aware of all the changes that occur in technologies and the regulatory variations that come from Europe, as our Association is within the working and influence groups, with experts who are present at the creation of all the regulations that emerge at a European level".
In conclusion, the best formula for protecting heritage is prevention, since "as we always say at AES, security is not an expense, but an investment". And clear examples of this are "suitable facilities, the protection of lives and property, added value for the end user, cybersecurity management, etc."