War on noise raging in Playa de Palma

Residents and hoteliers in the Playa de Palma have launched a new united front in the war against noise in the resort and have asked the Ombudsman, Enrique Mugica, for help in their bid to cut noise pollution and clear the resort up. Residents' associations and the Playa de Palma Hotel Association have explained to the Ombudsman that they have rejected the Palma city council's latest municipal order because it would allow nocturnal activities in bars with open-air terraces to continue past midnight and only serve to increase the problem of noise in the area. The Ombudsman's office has accepted their complaint and agrees that, based on the information received from the residents and hotel association, noise in the area is “seriously effecting the local population's health and has a detrimental effect on the resort's image and that of Majorca as a holiday destination.” On September 13, 1'000 complaints from local residents and workers were handed over to the Palma city council and since then, as the drive for a quieter life has blown up into a major issue with the council, a large number of public and private institutions have also expressed their opposition to any extentions to opening hours. In response to complaints from hoteliers about noise, an increase in prostitution in the area and the general degradation of the resort, the city council, after some tense and heated meetings between the council and residents, did take action towards the end of the summer and a number of bars, caught ignoring the noise restrictions were ordered to close for 24 hours.