Mojacar bars to limit noise or be shut down

BAR owners in Mojacar have been told to instal noise limiters or face being shutdown.

Last week they were reportedly informed by Mojacar Mayor, Rosa Maria Cano, that they have until the end of the month to install noise limiting equipment which can cost between €1,500 and €2,000 plus a yearly maintenance fee of €500.

Jessica Simpson of Mojacar Positiva Se Mueve said the Mayor wants to introduce a new law that “will solve some noise problems but may also kill what’s left of Mojacar.”

“This law consists in making all the bars (including beachbars) and clubs to install sound limiters that will be directly connected to the Police, we have not yet received the file that details the new law, and we are waiting on that to then proceed with investigations,” she said.

“All we know is what we have been transmitted from bar owners who have had meetings with the Lady Mayor concerning this subject. Limits being 55 decibels on the outside and 90 decibels inside (bars) not sure about the limits for the clubs with late night music licenses. If the bar exceeds the limit and is warned 3 times they will be shut down.”

This, they say, will affect everybody, Spanish and foreigners with premises which play music, especially nightclubs which open into the early hours of the morning. Some locals say they are upset by the measures and many have said that if they can’t afford to pay for the equipment then they will have to stop playing music.

Others complain they have invested time and money into obtaining a music license which if they are unable to afford the equipment, will have done them no good. One bar owner who preferred to remain unnamed told us he has a decibel meter at his bar which reads levels from the edge of their boundaries as stipulated in the law, but that when a car or motorbike goes by, the levels shoot up, meaning that this is not a reliable reading.

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By Jennifer Leighfield