The Provincial Court of Madrid has ruled in favor of Real Madrid in the conflict raised by neighbors due to the noise from concerts held at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium between April and September 2024, agreeing to the dismissal of the criminal case initiated after a neighborhood complaint.
According to the ruling, which Europa Press has had access to, the Third Section upholds the appeals filed by José Ángel Sánchez Periáñez and Real Madrid Estadio S. L., to which the Public Prosecutor's Office joined, and decrees the free dismissal with respect to both.
In January, the Court of Instruction had proposed the opening of a trial against the club and against the sole administrator of the stadium management company, having found indications of a presumed crime against the environment due to the concerts. The appeals were directed against that order which ordered to continue with the proceedings through the abbreviated procedure.
The origin of the procedure is located in a complaint filed by the Neighborhood Association of Those Affected by the Bernabéu and other residents against José Ángel Sánchez Periáñez and against the company Real Madrid Estadio S. L.
In a public statement, the white club has expressed its satisfaction with the Court's decision, which confirms, as they emphasize, the "absolutely unfounded and instrumental" nature of the lawsuit filed by the Neighborhood Association of those affected by the Bernabéu.
The court concludes that neither the company that operates the stadium nor its director had "control of the fact" over the noise generated during musical shows. The magistrates specify that the responsibility for the sound volume and compliance with acoustic limits fell on the concert promoter companies, in charge of organizing and executing each event.
The Court details that Real Madrid Stadium's involvement was limited to renting the venue, without assuming functions in the technical production of the concerts or in sound management.
The car points out that it was the promoters who were obliged to adapt each show to the acoustic conditions of the stadium and to observe environmental regulations. The court also dismisses the thesis of the private prosecution and part of the Prosecutor's Office, which sought to attribute indirect responsibility to the club and José Ángel Sánchez for allowing concerts in a venue without the acoustic insulation that the neighbors consider sufficient.
For the magistrates, that conduct does not fit the criminal offense of noise pollution and they recall that Criminal Law is reserved for the most serious aggressions against the environment. Along these lines, they emphasize that the mere commission of administrative infractions is not enough to sustain a criminal conviction.
The resolution also denies that there is omission liability. The Court understands that neither Real Madrid Stadium nor José Ángel Sánchez had a legal or contractual duty to monitor acoustic emissions outside the stadium once the space was transferred to the promoters.
The neighbors' complaint
The neighborhood complaint maintained that the concerts held after the remodeling of the white coliseum constitute an environmental crime and that "from the first one" the noise limits set by municipal regulations have been exceeded, without "any measure having been taken in the building to avoid the undesirable consequences". It also added that both the mayor and the urban planning delegate "know it, accept it, and tolerate it", incurring "an inconceivable dereliction of their main responsibility", which is "the protection of the rights and interests of the neighbors, and not those of the private entity".
In the documentation provided with the lawsuit, it is indicated that in the license granted in 2019 to Real Madrid for the stadium renovation, its use for purposes other than football matches "is not contemplated," so that "for the holding of other events such as concerts, the corresponding authorization would be necessary for each specific case."
The lawsuit includes a list of musical shows and concerts scheduled since April 2024 and states that the sound they generate "implies a breach of the urban planning license that requires the adoption of soundproofing measures".
It is also alleged that the owner of the Santiago Bernabéu "had not carried out any study to prevent the exit of noise during the celebration of events" and that, according to the prosecution, in the concerts held so far "the City Council received numerous complaints about unbearable noise", accompanying this statement with expert reports from acoustic engineering on the intrusion of noise into the external environment due to the concerts, in which the level permitted by the regulations would have been exceeded.
Specifically, the concerts of Taylor Swift on May 29 and 30; Duki on June 8; Manuel Carrasco on July 3; and Luis Miguel on July 6 and 7 are mentioned, in all of which, according to the association, the authorized noise level would have been exceeded.
The plaintiff describes the actions of the defendants as "absolute indifference in the defense of the rights of the neighbors" and criticizes the City Council for, despite "knowing the situation," having "limited itself" to initiating sanctioning proceedings against the developers for exceeding the fixed decibels, with fines of 20,000 euros, which they consider "ridiculous".