Real Madrid is the most successful club in the world of football with nine Champions League/European Cup victories and 32 Spanish League titles. The Santiago Bernabéu stadium, home ground of Real Madrid, has a capacity of 85,000 spectators and is one of the world's most iconic stadiums.

Last year, club president Florentino Perez unveiled plans to renovate the facade, giving it a more modern and luminous appearance. This will be finished in 2015.

Security upgrade
The stadium's security system was upgraded before hosting the Champions League final in May 2010. The new security system had to comply with several security regulations: data protection law, private security law, EN regulations, CE marked equipment and there was also emphasis on low energy consumption. The old analogue system was migrated to a new IP environment, including existing fixed and moving analogue cameras. 422 Bosch IP cameras were installed along with a number of Avigilon high resolution cameras, Bosch VIPX1600 series coders, seven sets of DSA iSCSI arrays, the Bosch VMS system and 18 workstations.

In 2013, this has been supplemented with Dinion dome 921 cameras and the latest version of the Bosch VMS 4.0 for 500 cameras. Video content analysis is embedded into most of the cameras, and the system integrates with security guard equipment and the access control/ticketing system.

Migration to IP
The biggest challenge with the security upgrade was the migration from analogue to IP.
"Migration is always a challenge when it comes to a huge centralised system", says Christof Stadter, Marketing Communications Manager at Bosch Security Systems.

Real Madrid wanted a future proof technology, with scalability, video content analysis embedded in the cameras and integration with security guard equipment and access control/ticketing system. In order to optimise bandwidth, the H.264 compression standard was chosen. For security reasons, Real Madrid stores video footage for 1-2 hours before a game until 1-2 hours after the game. Storage is kept for three weeks. A public address (PA) system, loudspeakers and amplifiers are also a part of the upgrade in the Tour of Bernabeu and the press room.

Covering two sites
The security system not only covers the pitch and the stands, but also VIP boxes, the pressroom, the Real Madrid shop and museum and the surrounding streets. It also includes the Ciudad Real Madrid, the club's training facility in Valdebebas, outside of the city.

According to Bosch, the main security issues at Santiago Bernabéu are surveillance of entrances, supporter behaviour and vandalism and crowd detection.

Christof Stadter says: "The latest IP technology, HD imaging, scalability and remote visualisation distinguish this system from other sites."

Control centre
During a game, 11 people are responsible for the surveillance in the control centre. They monitor the screens and are able to manage alarms through the Bosch video management system, and can forward all events to the police and stadium security guards and stewards.

Although the Spanish football league has a history of great players and a strong rivalry between the top clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona, Spanish football has been relatively spared from more serious hooligan incidents compared to other countries. However, as one of the biggest and the most successful club in the world, Real Madrid has to put security first. With the security upgrade, this has been achieved.