The synchronised fireworks display at the Sagrada Família during the Pope's visit is being hailed as a triumph of cultural diplomacy. But in my line of work, we don't see spectacle. We see a security nightmare.
A dozen threat vectors open when you combine a high-value religious leader, a crowd of pilgrims, and a pyrotechnic display that can mask almost anything. The British tourism board's pivot to pilgrim surges is a strategic miscalculation if they haven't factored in the counter-intelligence implications. Every tourist is a potential intelligence asset or target.
I'd have locked down the aerial corridor, swept the crowd for signal intercepts, and run a full cyber check on the cathedral's network. Did they? The Vatican's track record suggests not.
This isn't a photo op. It's a battlefield.
