The Schlagersterne festival is a two-day event being held at the Plaza de Toros (bullring) in Palma. It started on Wednesday and concludes today (Thursday). Attracting thousands of fans of 'Schlagermusik' from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, it is the latest event at the bullring to have residents up in arms about the noise.
It is not just the two days of the event itself. There have been the rehearsals plus the noise involved with setting up the festival. Using a decibel app, one resident has measured 79. The regulations, he says, state no higher than 30 with the windows open and 25 with them closed. Residents have spoken to a German journalist, who has explained that in the centre of Berlin, for example, this type of event couldn't be held. And yet there are thousands of visitors for one in Palma that causes considerable annoyance and a lack of sleep.
The local residents association was formed in 2007 precisely because of noisy events at the bullring. Despite this, they continue, the most notorious having been the concert for Spanish students in 2021. As well as the noise this generated, it was a cause of the massive Covid outbreak.
The residents suspect that the town hall is turning a blind eye because of the number of tourists arriving in the city and the economic benefit they will create.