Real Madrid has not held concerts at the Bernabéu for more than a year and a half. This week, the Provincial Court of Madrid has filed the criminal case that weighed on the club due to the noise of the shows in the summer of 2024. But the stadium has been hosting events for months but not live music, and no one in the promotion industry has the intention of re-signing a contract that, from now on, has all the criminal responsibility for the matter.
What is this about? In the spring of 2024, the newly renovated Bernabéu began hosting large-format concerts. From the first events with Taylor Swiftresidents of the Chamartín district complained about the noise levels, which sometimes exceeded 85 decibels, when the municipal ordinance sets the ceiling at 53. As the problems persisted, a few months later the club suspended its entire musical agenda to undertake acoustic improvement works.
Experts already warned that soundproofing the stadium would be almost impossibleand in mid-2025, Real Madrid definitively canceled the concerts. Meanwhile, the Association of Neighbors Affected by the Bernabéu filed a complaint for environmental crime, alleging that the club rented the stadium to concert promoters even though it knew that the facility lacked the necessary acoustic insulation.
What the car says. The 3rd Section of the Provincial Court upheld the appeals presented by the club and agreed to the free dismissal of the process (that is, the case is filed and reopening it is ruled out). According to the court, Real Madrid Estadio SL limited itself to renting the venue; he did not organize the concerts, manage the sound system or make decisions about volume or technical production.
The Court concludes that those who “promote, organize, develop and execute each show” They are the promoter companies that are the transferees of the stadium.and that they are the ones obliged to respect the decibel limits set by the Municipal Ordinance for Protection against Noise Pollution of 2011. In other words, the owner of the stadium has no legal or contractual duty to monitor acoustic emissions once the venue has been transferred.
What the neighbors say. The Association of Neighbors Affected by the Bernabéu affirms that the ruling “doesn’t change anything”in their opinion the concerts are still illegal, and they are going to file an appeal. The resolution, they claim, does not determine that the concerts are legal or that they can be held, it only exempts Real Madrid from criminal liability. The acoustic problem that gave rise to everything is still there. Besides, there is a parallel judicial path: The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has another case open related to the licenses and authorizations of the events, considering an appeal by the neighborhood association against administrative decisions.
In the hands of the promoters. The order clears of responsibilities, but it does not solve the problem: any promoter that signs a concert at the Bernabéu now assumes, alone, the criminal risk from which the club now escapes. And it is not an attractive panorama: during the 2024 concerts, The Madrid City Council imposed 24 sanction acts with a cumulative amount greater than 2.6 million euros. Real Madrid’s measures, first canceling the concert schedule and later acoustic improvement works, make it clear that the club is very aware of the difficulties of giving concerts. Which promoter is going to assume responsibility for the fines?
And now what? And now nothing. Real Madrid celebrates the judicial victory in its statement, but it will be difficult for it to find promoters willing to organize concerts in a stadium with such a sanctioning record, assuming the criminal risk alone. Meanwhile, on the other side of Madrid, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano can boast an impeccable track record: since its inauguration in 2018, the Atlético stadium has held more than 50 concerts without a single acoustic violation or a neighborhood complaint. The secret: the Metropolitano was built in the San Blas-Canillejas district, but far from the residential fabric. Sometimes it is not about ambition, but rather respecting some ordinance or other.
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