What can I do about a noisy neighbour? What are the noise hours in Barcelona?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

If talking to your neighbour is not enough, call the “Guàrdia Urbana”, the city police, while the noise is going on, because their report can later be used as evidence. If the disturbance keeps happening, the owners' association (the “comunidad de propietarios”) can demand in writing that the neighbour stop and, if they carry on, sue them for nuisance activities. You can also bring your own claim against them to make them stop disturbing you and, if they cause you harm, to compensate you. In Barcelona there is no time after which noise can be made without limit, because noise that disturbs the neighbours more than is normal is prohibited at any time and the limits are stricter at night. What you can do Talk to the neighbour first, or ask the president or the managing agent to write to them. They often do not realise how much they can be heard. If the noise is very loud or at unsocial hours, call 112 at the time to have the Guàrdia Urbana attend, or the local police outside Barcelona. In Barcelona, the Guàrdia Urbana monitors and penalises disturbing or night-time noise from homes. Their report is also good evidence. Note down the days and times, record the noise on your mobile and ask other neighbours who are affected to do the same. A recording is not a measurement, but it helps. If the noise is continuous, have an acoustic consultant measure it. Catalan regulations set how much noise from an activity or from the neighbours can reach the inside of a home with the windows closed. In a bedroom, for example, 30 decibels during the day and 25 at night. The decibel is the unit used to measure the intensity of noise. What the owners' association can do Article 553-40 of the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, prohibits owners and occupiers from carrying on activities contrary to normal community life within the association. Loud and repeated noise is one of them. The president, on their own initiative or at the request of a quarter of the owners, must formally require the neighbour to stop by a method that leaves a record, such as a “burofax” (a certified letter with proof of content). If the neighbour carries on, the owners' general meeting can resolve to sue them. Before doing so, the law generally requires an attempt at negotiation. The judge can order the noise to stop immediately and, if it continues, deprive the neighbour of the use of the flat for up to two years. In the rest of Spain, the Horizontal Property Act (“Ley de Propiedad Horizontal”) allows that deprivation to last up to three years. If the person causing the disturbance is a tenant, what the owner and the association can do is explained in the question about a tenant who disturbs the neighbours. In addition, each neighbour affected can bring a claim on their own, without a resolution of the meeting. The Catalan code prohibits “inmisiones”, which is what the law calls noise, smoke, smells or vibrations coming from the neighbours, when they cause harm to the home or to the people living in it. 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. Noise hours in Barcelona In Barcelona, noise is regulated by the Catalan noise pollution legislation and the City Council's “Ordenança de Medi Ambient”, its environmental ordinance. The night-time limits are lower than the daytime ones, but a party or a very noisy appliance can be a nuisance during the day too. If you need to know from what time the night-time limits apply, you can ask on 010, the City Council's information line. For building work, there are fixed hours in Barcelona, Monday to Friday from 8 to 21 h, which are explained in the question about the hours for building work. Outside Barcelona, the hours are set by each municipality's ordinance.