Justice has ruled in favor of the case opened in the courts due to the noise in the capital. In this way, the criminal process opened in the Provincial Court is put to an end. “The aforementioned judicial resolution clearly and categorically concludes that neither José Ángel Sánchez Periáñez, general director of the club and member of its Board of Directors, nor Real Madrid Estadio SL are responsible for any criminal offense in relation to the concerts held at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium,” the club stated in a statement on its website.
The Provincial Court clarifies in its order that this process does not examine the social responsibility of Real Madrid or Sánchez Periáñez, the club’s general director, towards the residents who suffered from the high volume of the sound of the musical events held in the stadium, “but rather their criminal responsibility, that is, the responsibility consequent to the commission of a crime.” Justice considers that those “do not promote, organize, develop or execute each musical event”, but rather, “from the commercial promoter and its legal representative, to the artist, the editors, sound engineers and sound operators.”
“It is the promoting companies, who through their own employees or subcontractors, including the artist, who directly or indirectly cause or make noise or vibrations, who “make noise”. Theirs is the responsibility of not exceeding the decibel limits in the transmission of sound in the environment, in accordance with the municipal ordinance for protection against noise and thermal pollution of February 25, 2011,” reads the order, to which this newspaper has had access.
The judge understands that, if the Bernabéu “lacks sufficient insulation to prevent the high volume of music”, it is the promoters of the events who “will have to take into account the environmental conditions of the stadium to adapt their show and its sound level to the legal requirements in order to the transmission of sound and vibrations to the outside.”
Sources from the Association of Neighbors Affected by the Bernabéu inform EL PAÍS that the order, which they learned about this morning, “does not change anything,” since they consider that justice has only removed responsibility from Real Madrid and transferred it to the promoters. “We consider that the concerts are still illegal and we believe that they will not be able to be held after this order,” they point out. “In any case, the order is appealable and we are going to appeal,” they say.
The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, will give information to the media in an appearance this Wednesday morning.
On May 29, 2024, a few hours before the first of the two Taylor Swift concerts at the Santiago Bernabéu began, the Urban Planning delegate, Borja Carabante, who had been held so far had exceeded the sound limits and would be exposed to sanctions. These fines, he said, were for the promoters, because they are the ones who request the authorizations. Although he added that Real Madrid, as owner, could not remain “oblivious” to the coexistence problems that the noise causes for the residents of that area of the Chamartín district.
The penalties range between 600 euros, in the case of serious infractions, or from 12,000 to 300,000 in very serious ones, when the established noise limit is exceeded by more than seven decibels if it is at night, or by 10 if it is day, according to the Noise Pollution Protection Ordinance.
[Noticia en actualización]
