Airbnb’s to be fitted with compulsory noise meters in Spanish hotspot

In an attempt to crack down on noise levels, a new law has been introduced in a popular Spanish city that will see noise level meters installed in short-stay apartments.

Visitors to the historic city of Seville will have to keep a respectful level of noise from now on thanks to the installation of decibel meters in short-stay tourist flats, writes The Times, June 5.

Although Seville is known as one of the world’s most welcoming cities, in some areas Airbnb-style tourist flats outnumber homes for locals, which has led to complaints about excessive tourism and noise

The new law requires owners to install noise meters in their apartments. Although such devices can be found in other popular tourist regions like Malaga, this is different.

Seville is setting a new precedent, with local authorities making sure that noise limits will be legally enforced. The meters will measure the volume and if it goes beyond a certain level the owners will be sent a message to deal with the problem immediately, failure to do so will result in penalties.

The newly appointed mayor, José Luis Sanz, a conservative, campaigned to deal with the negative aspects of tourism, something that obviously proved popular with voters.

When speaking to residents in Santa Cruz he announced: ‘I want to reclaim the neighbourhood for the residents, making it a friendly place for residents…’

Sixty per cent of Santa Cruz’s apartments and houses are registered as tourist lets. And depending on the size of each apartment, the new law will set a limit on exactly how many people are allowed to stay at one time.

He went on to promise: ‘I will work to limit tourist accommodation to avoid the desertification of the city. I will make the historic centre habitable for the people of Seville and I will implement measures such as the regulation of tourist accommodation.’

Some locals recently took the law into their own hands by sealing up the mini key safes found outside short-stay apartments, which denied tourists access to their rented apartments.