The new Bernabéu has a problem. Sonorous. On April 26, it held its first concert of the new stage after the long remodeling. It began to function as an iconic space for macro events that should become a notable part of Real Madrid’s income. Without going any further, the white club signed a 20-year agreement in 2022 with the Legends group and the Sixth Street investment fund for the exploitation of the venue as an events and leisure space for which it will receive 360 ??million euros. However, the first concert alarmed the neighbors and the following ones have put them on a warpath due to a noise that, despite now being covered, they describe as unbearable and, above all, continuous.
“A stadium with a sports license has been converted into an eventdrome,” denounces Nicolás, a neighbor who has created a profile on the 84 decibels (the limit of the municipal ordinance for residential areas at night is 50) with the performance of Alejandro Sanz, while there were people inside the venue who said that it sounded terrible.” Precisely, some of those attending the few concerts held so far at the new Bernabéu have pointed to poor acoustics, although some promoters consulted point out that it is too early to know, that it depends on numerous factors and that the acid test will be next week. , with the two Taylor Swift macro concerts.
“The new stadium is not soundproofed. Despite being covered, it is less so than before, due to the upper ring from which you can see the city skyline and because what covers it are only slats. Here we coexisted with the stadium reasonably. You know where you live, there were thirty games a year with their inconveniences. Then the works come and you think that they will be finished, although there are neighborhood associations that have denounced some of them for some atrocities they have done. I take my hat off to the engineering work of the stadium, but turning it into an eventdrome, no. They come and put on millions of speakers for a concert and you can’t live, the other day I was screaming at home,” summarizes Nicolás.
And he assures that the neighborhood is on fire and that it is not just the concerts, but the days of rehearsals, assembly, disassembly or the nightly camping out of the fans on the sidewalk: “The other day there were already a dozen for Alejandro Sanz, let’s see with Taylor “Swift.” And he emphasizes that “there is an entertainment law of the Community of Madrid that has a special permit for extraordinary situations for a residential area to have celebrations. There were already some concerts in the stadium, five or six a year, reasonable. But when they put continuous programming all year round, you sneak in an ordinary annual programming by extraordinary means.” Karol G alone will have four concerts in July at the Bernabéu.
For its part, Nicolás concludes, “the City Council has to enforce municipal ordinances and control noise. But everyone is looking the other way. People are reporting to the police a lot, they have a spectacular pile of files in the Environment and all the police officers who arrive say that there is no where to take this.”
The white club does not speak out and from the Environment area of ??the City Council they point out regarding the complaints that the neighbors are making that “the measurements carried out by the municipal noise police and recorded in the corresponding minutes must subsequently be evaluated by the services municipal technicians. Therefore, it cannot be known a priori whether they exceed what is established. The minutes that are being received are being evaluated acoustically and, depending on the result, we will proceed.”
