Visible from every corner of Barcelona, the Collserola Tower stands out not only for its height or its role in telecommunications: its unique location and design have naturally made it become the main lightning strike point in the metropolitan area.
The Collserola Tower is much more than the tallest structure in Catalonia. Since its inauguration in 1992, it has become a symbol of the city of Barcelona, a key player in telecommunications, and a benchmark case of integration between architecture, technology, and safety..
Located on Turó de la Vilana, within the Collserola mountain range, the tower designed by British architect Norman Foster rises 288 meters high and provides coverage for most radio, television, data, and communication services.
But what many people don’t know is that, due to its height and location, Collserola Tower is also the preferred strike point for lightning across the Barcelona metropolitan area. And that is where its other great story begins: comprehensive protection against atmospheric discharges.
Lightning Protection: Engineering at Its Finest
From the very beginning, Collserola Tower incorporated a lightning protection system developed by INGESCO, which has ensured its operational safety for more than 30 years of uninterrupted service.
Its Metal Structure as a Natural Air Terminal
The entire tower was conceived as a natural air terminal, in line with IEC 62305-3 standards. Thanks to its metallic structure, there was no need to install additional lightning rods. The tower directly intercepts any discharge occurring in its surroundings.
This allows for a uniform lightning capture, thus minimizing the risk of uncontrolled side flashes.
Large-Diameter Copper Down Conductors
To channel lightning current to earth, three independent down conductors were installed, made of 20 mm copper tubes. This choice, instead of conventional cables, was based on two key reasons:
Higher capacity to withstand high-intensity impulses, due to the Kelvin or skin effect, which concentrates current on the conductor’s surface. The larger the diameter, the greater the efficiency.
Mechanical and thermal robustness over long distances, essential for a structure nearly 300 meters tall.
Surface-Type Grounding Mesh
The mountainous terrain of Collserola features high soil resistivity, so a spiderweb-type grounding mesh was designed, with multiple radial branches to maximize soil contact area.
This design effectively disperses lightning energy, maintains low ground resistance, and reduces step and touch voltages—safeguarding both people and equipment.
Total Equipotential Bonding of the Tower
All structural elements, including the guy wires, are bonded to the grounding network to ensure complete equipotentiality.
This means that during a strike, the entire tower rises and falls in potential uniformly, avoiding hazardous local differences such as electrical arcs or backflow currents that could damage electronic systems.
Preventive Storm Monitoring
Protection is complemented by a Previstorm system, an early-warning sensor that measures the atmospheric electric field.
This Device anticipates the formation of electrical storms with lightning strike risk, offering enough time to acivate safety protocols to protect people and guarantee the operational continuity of the telecommunications systems.
This preventive approach is fully aligned with IEC 62793 standards for thunderstorm detection systems.
A Case Study in Comprehensive Protection
Collserola Tower is not only an architectural landmark or a vital telecommunications hub. It is also a model case of comprehensive lightning protection, where every subsystem works in coordination to ensure the safety of the installation and the services it hosts.
More than three decades of uninterrupted operation validate the technical design developed by INGESCO, making the tower a true model of applied engineering for critical infrastructure in urban environments. Visible from every corner of Barcelona, Collserola Tower is far more than an imposing structure. It is a symbol of connectivity and protection—an example of how architecture, technology, and safety can merge into a single solution.
Even today, its lightning protection system remains an international benchmark.
If you'd like to learn more about designing a protection system on this scale or have a project with similar needs, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'd be happy to assist you.