The Bernabéu stadium has had to cancel or reschedule all forthcoming concerts after local people complained that a series of loud, late gigs had made the area unbearable.
The stadium, which is now working to comply with council noise regulations, is best known as the home of one of Spain’s greatest soccer teams, Real Madrid. The Bernabéu – which has just undergone a five-year, €900m refurbishment – has hosted a string of high-profile concerts over the spring and summer. Recent headliners have included Taylor Swift, Luis Miguel and the Colombian star Karol G.
But while the concerts delighted some music fans, they drove many local people to despair. Faced with decibels far exceeding legal levels, midnight finish times, fans camping out in local parks, drunk people urinating in doorways and the blocking off of residential roads, a group representing those living around the stadium began legal action against those responsible, including Madrid city council.
In a statement released on Friday, the club said it had decided to rethink its concert schedule.
“Real Madrid FC is announcing that it has decided to provisionally reschedule its event and concert programme at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium,” it said. “This decision is part of a raft of measures that the club is taking to ensure that the concerts comply strictly with the relevant municipal regulations.”
Despite the introduction of soundproofing measures, “different organisers and promoters” had still found it difficult to comply with council noise regulations, the statement said.
It added: “Real Madrid will continue working to make sure that the necessary sound production and emission conditions are in place to allow concerts to be held in our stadium.”
The statement said concerts by the Spanish artists Dellafuente and Aitana, slated for November and December, would be rescheduled, as would concerts next March by Lola Índigo. A K-pop concert in October has been cancelled.
