Voces del Prado

My grandfather, the Head Porter

José Torreblanca Prieto, Grandson of José Prieto, Lead Concierge, 1936-1948

As Head Porter my grandfather’s job was to open the door every morning. The doors didn’t open from the outside there was an internal passage that you entered and from where you could open the doors. Then they were closed again from inside. In other words, you didn’t go out through the Velázquez door: you went out through a rather mysterious place, I remember an underground passage. The Head Porter’s job was to open the door and then check the tickets. Visitors paid for a ticket then passed through the turn-style. At the end of the day the most important thing was counting entrances and exits to make sure no one had stayed behind in the Museum to steal a painting.