The City Council will measure the noise at the Aste Nagusia concerts to analyze the inconvenience to the neighbors
The special operation of the Mobility, Health and Consumption area includes the control of sound and food in the txosnas and catering establishments
Bilbao City Council will launch a pilot experience to measure the noise of concerts during Aste Nagusia. The results will be used to control the noise levels of all major events in the city center in the future. This was announced this Tuesday by the councilors of Health and Consumption, Yolanda Díez, and that of Mobility, Nora Abete, during the presentation of the special operation that their respective municipal areas will deploy for the official start next Saturday of the Big Week.
The acoustic survey will focus on the performances that take place both in Abandoibarra, next to the Guggenheim Museum, and in those at Parque Europa. As reported by the councilor, “the noise levels generated in situ and on the adjoining facades will be collected.” To carry out these measurements, three noise monitors will be placed in each location, one in the concert control table itself, and the other two in the residential buildings.
The objective is, as Nora Abete has acknowledged, to establish limitations that are currently not defined in concerts, where each sound system can have different emissions and their impact can affect the closest residential areas differently. “With the data we get from these tests, levels will be set that, from now on, cannot be exceeded in any case,” Nora Abete remarked.
Apart from this new action, as in previous editions, Bilbao has been divided into three large areas in terms of “limitation of hours, noise levels and zoning” during Aste Nagusia. Number 1 is the one that affects the heart of the festival, such as the Arenal festival area, between the Town Hall and the Arriaga theatre, including Calle Bailén, Muelle de Ripa and Plaza Pío Baroja. Here the txosnas may not exceed 85 decibels until five in the morning, a limit that is lowered by 10 points until 7. The hotel establishments with external public address, for their part, may not exceed 90 and 75 dbA respectively. In addition, live music will only remain until three in the morning in the txosnas.
Area 2 includes the perimeter of Berastegi, Ledesma and Pedro Ibarretxe streets, and in this case no more than 80 decibels are allowed, with the obligation to suspend all acoustic emissions at five in the morning. Also, in these cases no live performance is allowed after the fireworks. For its part, Area 3 extends to the rest of the city, where 80 dbA may not be exceeded until four in the morning.
Furthermore, in the case of txosnas and catering establishments, and following the practice of previous editions, a special operation will be launched to “check that the sound equipment complies with current ordinances regarding noise pollution.” Thus, apart from the presence of Environmental inspectors on the street, “a centralized sound programming and control system will be established, made up of volume limiting devices, which will be connected to a central computer in the municipal offices of medium environment”.
Inspections of the kitchens of the txosnas
Regarding food during the holidays, the Councilor for Health and Consumption has stressed that her area “will ensure good hygienic conditions”, both for products and drinks. In that sense, those responsible for the txosnas have already been offered food handling courses “and information on allergies to food intolerances.” Regarding their venues, in addition to some prerequisites that will be checked on site, they will be carried out periodically during the festive days of the kitchens and the service they offer.
“We are playing it with street food”
The Councilor for Health and Consumption has also insisted on the risks that the population runs when consuming directly from street food stalls, “which appear at parties as if by spontaneous generation and disappear just as quickly.” “We are gambling with this food, which may be cheaper but we run an unnecessary risk” Yolanda Díez stressed after noting that these businesses have not passed “any control, we do not know how their products have been cooked, nothing about their origin and expiration and not even how they are preserved.
The mayor has also reported on the information point on drugs and alcohol that will be enabled during Aste Nagusia. It will be located on the Town Hall bridge (corner of Ripa street) on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th between 00:00 and 03:00. A point where substances can be analyzed “in the key of prevention” will also be installed again at the back of the Arriaga Theater.
In addition, on the 20th, 25th, 36th and 27th the Bilbao City Council will collaborate with the Basque Government’s Directorate of Public Health and Addictions in a campaign to “analyze levels of alcohol consumption in a personalized way”. This initiative is aimed at adults, “to come and inform them of the negative consequences of abusive alcohol consumption and to be able to prevent them by incorporating self-care guidelines.”
Modifications of traffic and public transport
The preparation of the festive venue will require various changes in traffic and public transport in the city center. The first will be the total closure to the passage of vehicles throughout the Arenal festival site from 8:00 a.m. on Thursday and until 3:00 p.m. on the 30th.
In addition, the 24 Bilbobus lines and the Bilbao City Tour tourist coach, “will see their routes affected to a greater or lesser extent.” The services after the fireworks will also be reinforced and the Gautxori service will be offered every night. The Arenal and Hurtado de Amézaga 1 taxi stops are also cancelled.