The bar downstairs makes noise or gives off smoke: what can we neighbours do?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The quickest route is usually to report it to the town council, which can inspect the bar, measure the noise from an affected home and make the bar correct the problem or penalise it if it breaches its licence or the noise limits. If the bar is in commercial premises in the same building, the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”) can also demand that it stop and sue the owner of the premises and whoever runs the bar for nuisance activities. Wherever the bar is, each neighbour affected can also claim on their own for the noise, smoke or smells to stop and to be compensated. The fact that the bar has a licence does not prevent a claim before the courts. The town council and the Guàrdia Urbana While the noise is going on, call the “Guàrdia Urbana”, the city police. In Barcelona it monitors and penalises, among other things, music outside permitted hours and nightlife venues that do not meet soundproofing requirements. If it happens again, report it to the town council and ask for the noise to be measured from your home. In Barcelona this can be done through the City Council's online office (“Oficina Virtual”). If the noise reaching you exceeds the limits set by Catalan regulations, or if the bar breaches its opening hours or the conditions of its licence, the council can require it to take measures, fine it and even seal the premises. For noise in the street, such as that of people leaving bars, a new ordinance on civic behaviour in public spaces has applied in Barcelona since 15 February 2026. It provides for fines of up to 3.000 euros in the areas with the worst noise problems, which the City Council calls acoustically stressed areas. The owners' association and each neighbour If the bar is in commercial premises in the building, the association can follow the route in Article 553-40 of the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code. The president formally requires the bar and the owner of the premises to stop the disturbance and, if it continues, the owners' general meeting can resolve to sue them. The judge can order the activity to stop, the payment of compensation, deprivation of the use of the premises for up to two years and the termination of the bar's lease. If the by-laws ban bars in the commercial premises, it is enough to prove that the premises are being used as a bar. If the bar is in the building next door, that route is not available, because it only applies within each owners' association. In both cases, each neighbour affected can bring a claim on their own against “inmisiones”, which is what the law calls noise, smoke, smells or vibrations coming from neighbouring properties. The association can also do so if they affect the common parts. Those that do not cause substantial harm must be tolerated. In general, substantial harm is caused by those that exceed the limits set by the regulations. The licence does not protect the bar against this claim. Even if the activity is authorised, the bar can be required to take technically possible and economically reasonable measures to prevent the disturbance and to pay compensation for the harm caused. Before suing, the law generally requires an attempt at negotiation, with the bar too. Smoke and evidence Smoke and smells are claimed for in the same way as noise. If the bar's extraction flue runs up the façade, through a courtyard or over the roof, which are common parts, it will in principle need the association's permission. This is explained in the question about whether the owners' association can refuse to allow an extraction flue for commercial premises. The best evidence is the council's noise measurement. A report from an acoustic consultant, a notarial record (“acta notarial”), complaints and witnesses are also useful. It is advisable to start with the administrative route, because an official measurement exceeding the limits carries a lot of weight later in a lawsuit. In the rest of Spain, if the bar is in the building, the owners' association acts under the Horizontal Property Act (“Ley de Propiedad Horizontal”), which allows deprivation of use for up to three years.