Voces del Prado

Day-to-Day Life of the Electricity Department Staff

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

Every morning without fail, we’d go up at 7.00 in the morning, or 7.30, which was the time we started, and the first thing the electricity staff would do is to review all of the halls. At the Museo del Prado, it was difficult to find a bulb that had blown or gone out, because we’d walk around the whole Museum, covering all the halls, to check that they were in perfect condition by ten in the morning when the Museum opened its doors.
Today, working at night means being on call, being pending of the computers, because they are programmed to change the lighting at different times according to a series of different power loads. The first change takes place between 9.00 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., which is when some of the lights are turned off, leaving sufficient lighting for the cleaning staff. At 11.00 p.m., everything is turned off and the night-shift guards arrive, so minimal lighting is left for the night bosses and security guards to do their rounds. At some point, one of the power connections, one of the automatic systems might blow. We always have some event in the evening, up until 12.00 a.m., such as a function by a company that delivers conferences or companies that visit the Prado. Staff who are working might also be there, coming to paint or to carry out some restoration in a room. And you have to be pending in case some power connection goes, to re-establish it. Not to mention the air-conditioning, the whole security system; there are many aspects. That’s to say, the Museo del Prado now has some pretty comprehensive electricity and automation systems.