Spain's National Police to increase patrols during America's Cup

The National Police is stepping up its patrols during the America's Cup sailing competition, taking place in Barcelona from August to October, to ensure safety and efficiency. 

The body has agents deployed in the Operational Coordination Center (CECOR) and in the port of Barcelona, ​​as well as the marinas and fishing ports up and down the Catalan coast.

Spain's National Police are responsible for the control of the outer border of the Schengen zone, verification of documents of crew and passengers of boats, and the inspection of ports.

During the event, the body will also be in charge of providing protection for politicians and guest members of the state or authorities of other countries.

The Spanish police organization has designed two phases of their operation for the America's Cup. Prior to the competition, they carried out border checks and collected "sensitive" information, and many meetings were held with the maritime captains and port managers.

During the competition, which will last until the end of October, they will coordinate the joint efforts by state, regional, and local authorities coordinated to ensure the safe traffic of passengers.

In the first six months of the year, the National Police has increased checks for repeat crime offenders with the aim of preventing illegal activity.

Close to 3,000 boats have been checked in this period, 2,734 visas have been processed, more than 1.3 million passengers and more than 320,000 crew members have been checked.

529 checks have been carried out in ports and fisheries with more than a thousand yachts inspected.

Around 30 people have been arrested as a result of these checks, 11 for legal claims and 12 for crimes.

Catalan police identify drone pilots

The Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, have identified six drone pilots for flying over the restricted area of ​​the America's Cup.

The drones were prevented from accessing the regatta area and the police detected them using the Kuppel system, which during the first four days of competition allowed the detection of several irregular flights over the beach area restricted for the safety of the sporting event.

The police reminded the public that infractions committed with a drone can lead, apart from confiscation of the aircraft, to administrative sanctions that can range from €60 to €225,000 in the most serious cases where air safety is compromised.