Palma City Hall was condemned for failure to respond to several noise complaints » made by 30 residents of two buildings on Paseo Marítimo, who complained about excessive noise coming from the Three Lions and Shamrock stores. The Administrative Dispute Tribunal number 2 considers that Cort “violated the fundamental right to the inviolability of the home included in article 18.2 of the Spanish Constitution, and accordingly, I condemn Palma City Hall to respect its obligations in the specific terms in which they are legally established, of their obligations in the specific terms in which they are legally established”, as specified in the judge’s order.
The request, filed by the Paseo Marítimo Neighborhood Association, regretted the “inaction” of the municipal council in the face of a situation which had lasted for more than ten years and which had caused serious inconvenience to residents located near the two premises, which exceeded the permitted acoustic limits without the local Palma police having taken any action in this regard. Measurements have been taken which show excessive noise inside the homes of up to 28 decibels above the permitted limit.
According to the judgment, “there is no further action to resolve or minimize the impact on the residents concerned, that is to say that the Town Hall has not fulfilled its duty and that it is the only administration competent to do so. “Even though there has been some municipal response to the noise problem, we can only describe it as insufficient and inadequate”,adds the judge’s order, which specifies that Cort “did not act as provided for by the regional law on noise pollution, the application of which depends exclusively on Palma City Hall”.
