The fight against Palma noise: The largest sound-level network in Spain

He has been developing a network of sound-level meters and relates the case of a Briton who had just bought a 1.5 million euro apartment on the Paseo. He was installing one of these meters. The owner appeared on the balcony and told Orts he couldn't sleep because of the noise.

There are now meters in 22 locations in Palma, part of a project headed by Orts and Christoph Hafner. SensoGrama has over 20 engineers across Mallorca. By the end of the year they will have created the largest sound-level network in Spain.

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The island of noise

In collaboration with residents associations, the pair have developed these locally manufactured devices to measure noise in the city's 'hot spots'. It is the residents who request and pay for the installation. The meters are high-tech and have been calibrated by a study at the ParcBit technology park in Palma.

Orts explains that when the police arrive in response to complaints of noise, the venues turn down the music. "Are the police certified sound engineers? The technicians who have the power to issue a report for excessive noise go whenever they want; at times when there is no issue. But as soon as you install one of these sensors you see the problem there is."

He is critical of the Special Noise Map that was approved in October. "This was based on road traffic and railway noise. It doesn't take nightlife into account."

The situation has worsened in recent years. "In just 48 hours our sensors on the Paseo Marítimo detected 420 occasions when 80 decibels were exceeded more than three times in half an hour. In Santa Catalina over two days, 386 peaks were detected."