Voces del Prado

A Reflection After 40 Years’ Service

Juan Manuel Gómez Agredano, Service Technician for Electricity and Air Conditioning (Electrician), 1972-What's on

When you’ve worked at an institution for 40 years, one you consider to be your home, and you leave, you think “I’ve left my whole life behind there”. There are those who are fully involved and understand that the Prado is a museum that you have to preserve and maintain, because it’s 200 years old and you have to ensure that it lasts another 200 years, so that future generations can enjoy it. There are those who come and see this as a job, and they’re not bothered whether the institution is maintained or not. You have to look after it and you have to see that the people who are here, that their needs are also met. I don’t think the Prado is a place where you can have staff who are resentful because they are working here. We shouldn’t allow companies to come in here with their sub-contracted services, not because of the personnel, but because the staff are so poorly paid. Because when I knew the Prado, it was a service, a job that formed part of you; it was part of your life and you took your problems home with you. You thought, “tomorrow I have to resolve this”, “this other thing is pending, well, it’s a problem”, “I have to call because it’s not normal for this to happen”. And I’ve experienced that; they called you at home and you answered. I have the impression that that no longer happens, although perhaps that’s more normal. But I experienced something different. They still held me responsible from home. You remember all this because you’ve experienced it so often at this museum.