Voces del Prado

The Prado Museum in my life

Antonio Macías Pizarro, Head of Night Surveillance, 1974-2009

It's the nicest thing in Spain. Anyone who disagrees is lying. There are very fine things, very good museums, but nothing like the Prado. There is no other museum like it. Not even the Louvre is as clean as this. I pay attention to the security, I watch people, and I pick up a sense of abandonment. The security here is much stricter. Then when the boss isn't watching, everyone does as they please because that's just the way people are. I pay attention to those things because it has been my life.
I don't miss it too much because thank God I'm still active. But I do miss my colleagues, my friends... Certain times spent at the Museum, of course it's work but you enjoy yourself. I've had a great time here. I never went to work fretting over anything. Never. Work meant being with nice, agreeable people. We got along very well. Those are the foundations. We have been very close on the night shift. We have been together here on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve. We had to be here those nights and said to ourselves, "Let's have a good time while we're here, let's have dinner together…" We would change the rounds a bit to make it more enjoyable, it was a good atmosphere and both the guys from a private security company and ourselves were responsible people. Like a family. Those guys are my family.
I often dream of the Museum. People come in and I don't know how to get rid of them. I swear. It's a true feeling of angst... When I wake up I tell my wife, "Again I was at the Museum." "How many got in?" I say, "They were coming in all over the place."
There are times when I wouldn't mind doing two or three nights. I wouldn't mind at all. I'd have a swell time.