Parliament will also protect sports facilities from noise complaints
The groups accept the PSC proposal that seeks to extend the shielding beyond schoolyards
BarcelonaHe motion The Parliament's proposal to protect school playgrounds from complaints about excessive noise will go even further. The legal change that will be approved next week by the plenary session will not only establish that noise in school playgrounds cannot be considered noise pollution, but will also protect all sports facilities. This is included in one of the amendments presented by the PSC, which, as several groups have confirmed to the ARA, has sufficient support to be approved.
The amendment proposes that the new wording of the law also protects sports facilities and that between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. the noise limits will not apply to activities carried out in these spaces. This Tuesday the spokesperson for the socialists in the Parliament, Elena Díaz, had expressed confidence that the rest of the groups would support it, and finally this will be the case.
In response to the proliferation of complaints from residents about excessive noise in school playgrounds, Parliament has urgently approved a change to Law 16/2002 on protection against noise pollution. The proposal, jointly promoted by Junts, ERC, PP, Comuns and CUP, exempted activities carried out in school playgrounds between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. from compliance with noise limits; also at weekends.
Until now, complaints had reached schools such as Salesianos Rocafort, Salesianos Sepúlveda, Vedruna de Gracia, Jesuitas Kostka, la Pía de San Antonio, Torrent d'en Melis and Auró. In the case of Rocafort, the courts – one of which is still sealed off by the City Council – were shared by the school and a nearby gym. Now the PSC amendment would also protect gymnasium tracks, football fields and sports centres.
Although beyond the Rocafort case, for now, there are no complaints against sports facilities, with the amendment the socialists want to put the bandage before the wound and avoid finding themselves later with cases such as those of school playgrounds. For example, preventing the three complaints from neighbours about noise on weekends that the Escola Industrial football field in Eixample received in 2023 from ending up leading to complaints.
The neighbours' complaints
The Neighbourhood Network Against Noise (Xavecs) stresses, however, that the only complaints lodged so far by neighbours have been about noise in schools that have playgrounds inside the block. In a statement last week, the organisation regretted that the lack of specificity in the text processed in Parliament opened the door to many cases that had nothing to do with the development and rights of children.
"As it is written, the proposal is so permissive that football matches or parties could be organised on Sundays at seven in the morning," it warned. It also stressed that "although the noise generated by children during the school day may be understandable, the extension of activities beyond this time represents a serious problem for many people."
