“The Alicante City Council cannot ignore the obvious and affirm that it does not know that Castaños Street is an acoustically saturated street, because it already had a sonometric report (...) in 2013 and two judicial expert tests carried out in 2020. and 2024 who have said that Calle Castaños is an acoustically saturated area.”
The previous paragraph is an extract from the sentence handed down by the magistrate of the contentious administrative court number 3 of Alicante, which was announced yesterday and admits the appeal presented by two residents of the central Castaños street, a pedestrian street that, for A nightmare for its residents, it is packed with bars and restaurants and has been the heart of the so-called afternoon for years, which is both because of its evening nature and because of the late hours until which it lasts.
According to the judge, “the inaction of the Hon. Alicante City Council, by not having agreed to initiate the procedure for the declaration of an Acoustically Saturated Zone, despite the fact that the acoustic levels far exceeded the legally permitted sound limits, has violated the fundamental rights of the complainants, contained in articles 15 (All have the right to life and to physical and moral integrity, without, in any case, being subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) and 18 (which, among other things, protects the right to personal privacy) of the Spanish Constitution.
The judge notes as “a fact that is not disputed, as it is well known, that in recent years, in the town of Alicante, a large number of establishments dedicated to leisure and catering have been opened”, in the area between Castaños streets, Rambla de Méndez Núñez, and other adjacent streets.
“These premises,” the ruling states, “bring together a large influx of people, especially on weekends, with the consequent annoyance for neighbors who see their well-being and family privacy permanently disturbed.” This is not a mere impression, but rather “the reality of the discomfort and its permanent and unbearable nature has been confirmed” by the various measurements that, carried out at different times, have contributed to the cause.
The magistrate understands that "the City Council does not have the power to decide whether or not to declare the area in question as ZAS, but rather has the obligation to do so due to the requirements of the principle of legality and the inalienable nature of the exercise of public powers, without that could delay it longer.”
And it is that "the City Council is aware that the problem of noise pollution existing in this specific area of the city of Alicante imposes said declaration and the adoption of the limitations that this declaration implies to fulfill its purpose, which is none other than to correct the pollution acoustics protecting the health of citizens, the declaration as ZAS of this area of Alicante cannot be evaded by the city council, as the provisions of article 28.2 of the autonomous law 7/2002 are applicable, that is, it is about complying with a legal obligation and to exercise a competence that is inalienable.”
Therefore, "the City Council has the obligation to protect the residents of the area, and citizen protection measures must prevail and not the promotion of free trade, since articles 43 and 45 CE would be infringed." Therefore, for the judge, the complainants' request is appropriate "aimed at the Alicante City Council adopting the limitations and measures that the declaration as ZAS must entail, and that lead to the recovery of admissible noise levels within the legality, both for the exterior environment and for the interior of the homes.”
Therefore, “the declaration of interested ZAS becomes enforceable and mandatory for the Alicante City Council, as it is imposed by Law, and it must be indicated that the declaration of ZAS responds to the just need to preserve the rights to an environment suitable for life. , to the physical or moral integrity, to equality, to personal and family privacy, to the inviolability of the home, to the health, to rest and to decent housing for the affected citizens.”
The socialist opposition demanded in a statement, upon learning of the sentence, the appearance of the mayor, Luis Barcala, "to give an account of the actions that the City Council plans to adopt to comply with the sentence that requires protecting the residents around Castaños Street. of acoustic saturation”.
“The mayor cannot continue looking the other way while fundamental citizens' rights are violated. If we have reached this point it has been because Barcala is installed in passivity, to the point that he has not even had the will to approve the noise ordinance. He has been postponing serving the Saturated Acoustic Zone sentence for five years. Now, justice has put him on the ropes and he has to act,” said councilor Raúl Ruiz.
Given the announcement by the vice mayor and councilor for the Environment, Manuel Villar, that the city council plans to take measures to reduce noise, but is considering appealing the sentence by not sharing the considerations regarding its inaction, the PSOE believes "it is inadmissible that the “The PP government is suing against the neighborhood associations that have filed appeals in court to defend their right to rest.”
For the opposition, “what Barcala should do is not continue blocking the noise ordinance, because it is a fundamental tool to be able to regulate the Acoustic Saturation Zones and to create the noise table, so that these problems can be addressed by guaranteeing the participation of neighbors and the leisure sector.”
