An initial stage of the bird’s-eye camera system is already operating at the Abaceria Central, Sants, Sarrià, Els Encants de Bellcaire and Sant Antoni markets. The system will be installed at all municipal markets by mid-October, except for the Boqueria and Els Encants markets, where a second stage will be defined due to their complexity.

The information, notifications and occupancy warnings are displayed in real time on monitors with a traffic-light colour system: green when it’s all right to access the market and red when capacity has been reached and customers must wait.

Some 260 cameras and 125 monitors will be installed altogether, providing information on the total number of people at the market as well as partial numbers by zone. The automatic system will help ensure compliance with safety measures to prevent infections.

The new system comes in addition to measures adopted at the 43 municipal markets since the state of emergency was declared in March. These include the distribution of face masks and hand sanitiser to stallholders, home deliveries, more security staff and a ten-point plan of good practice to help citizens prevent infections.