High Technology and Tailor-Made Solutions for the Protection of Barcelona's Las Ramblas.

Las Ramblas is Barcelona's best-known and most visited public space. Federico García Lorca once described it as "the only street in the world I wish would never end." It is one of the world's oldest and most distinctive tree-lined boulevards, featuring a central pedestrian promenade that has become an international symbol of urban life.

This unique layout enhances the perception of the public space as a continuous pedestrian environment while encouraging social interaction and everyday city life, making Las Ramblas the true heart of Barcelona. Walking along this remarkable boulevard offers visitors an immediate experience of the city's vibrant atmosphere.

Las Ramblas stretches uninterrupted for approximately 1.5 km, connecting Plaça de Catalunya, which links Barcelona's historic centre with its nineteenth-century expansion, to the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell, the historic harbour extensively redeveloped for the 1992 Olympic Games. Along its route, the boulevard connects some of the city's most important public spaces and landmarks.

On 17 August 2017, Las Ramblas was the scene of a terrorist attack in which a van was deliberately driven into the pedestrian area, causing numerous fatalities and injuries among residents and tourists. Following this tragic event, the City of Barcelona launched a comprehensive security project designed to eliminate the boulevard's vulnerability while preserving its appearance, accessibility and unique urban character.

Protection of Las Ramblas is being achieved through a series of minimally invasive yet highly effective hostile vehicle mitigation measures designed to prevent unauthorised vehicle access to pedestrian areas. Pilomat—one of the world's leading manufacturers of vehicle access control systems—is contributing to this prestigious project with high-security bollards that combine outstanding performance with an exclusive custom design.

Tailor-Made Bollards for an Iconic Urban Space

"We enthusiastically embraced the Barcelona project," explains Alessandra Acerbis, Sales Manager at Pilomat, "making our extensive expertise available to help ensure the highest level of protection for Las Ramblas, the city's most important public space and one of the symbolic locations of the Catalan capital.

The project includes the installation of approximately 500 bollards defining the pedestrian areas, together with additional improvements to the surrounding paving."

How was the contract awarded?

"The contract was awarded to a major general contractor, who selected Pilomat to develop and manufacture aesthetically customised bollards. The tender specifications required a cylinder with a knurled surface inspired by the column of the Christopher Columbus Monument, together with a specific colour finish.

Developing the knurled surface required the design of completely new bollard models, followed by dedicated crash testing to verify compliance with the required performance standards.

Depending on their location, both fixed and automatic bollards will be installed, capable of resisting the impact of a 7.5-ton truck travelling at 50 km/h (K4) or 80 km/h (K12)."

The Pilomat bollards developed for Las Ramblas demonstrate not only the outstanding aesthetic quality, engineering expertise and performance of the company based in Grassobbio, near Bergamo, but also its unique capability to develop bespoke security solutions through careful industrial design and advanced engineering.

To protect Las Ramblas against hostile vehicle intrusion, Pilomat redesigned three different models from its High Security bollard range to meet the project's specific architectural requirements.

The customised bollards feature a knurled cylindrical body, 275 mm diameter, 900 mm above-ground height and a distinctive vermilion red finish, while maintaining full compliance with the international crash-test standards IWA 14, PAS 68 and ASTM.

The 275/K12-900A automatic hydraulic bollard provides an ideal solution for managing vehicle access safely and efficiently. It is particularly suitable for protecting corporate headquarters, industrial facilities, research centres, embassies, police headquarters, military bases, government buildings and other sensitive sites.

Powered by a reliable hydraulic mechanism designed for intensive operation in all weather conditions (2,000 operating cycles per day and an average service life of 3 million cycles), the stainless steel cylinder raises and lowers within the underground foundation unit, which houses the hydraulic, electrical and control systems.

The version developed for Barcelona is equipped with a top-mounted multi-LED warning light and an acoustic movement warning device. Some bollards also feature a specially designed steel tray that allows cobblestone paving to be installed around the foundation, ensuring perfect visual integration with the characteristic surface of Las Ramblas.

The 275/K12FB-900F fixed bollards use a standard foundation extending more than 500 mm below ground, while the 275/K12SF-900F version features a Shallow Foundation, approximately 300 mm deep, specifically designed for installation where underground utilities or existing infrastructure prevent deep excavation.

The exceptional technical performance of these bollards, combined with the bespoke aesthetic design required by the tender specifications, reflects more than 50 years of Pilomat's experience in the security sector and over 20 years of specialised expertise in the development of high-security automatic and fixed bollards.