The World Health Organization recently recognized noise pollution as a public health problem. In Europe, a popular city in the hearts of tourists is particularly exposed to these issues …
Stress, heart problems, hearing loss … noise is a real scourge for the one exposed there all day long. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently decided to consider noise pollution as a public health problem not to neglect. The most exposed populations are obviously those who live in town. City downs being forced to deal with it daily. In essence, the city generates ambient, permanent sound pollution, which seriously harms the health of its inhabitants.
Besides, did you know? The country considered the noisiest in the world is Japan! But, just behind the country of the rising sun, there is a very popular European country with tourists. Indeed, it is Spain. And the statistics advanced by the WHO are terrifying: one in ten Spanish considers its environment as too noisy. Worse, one in four Spaniards lives with more than 65 decibels in the ears on a daily basis.
In question: restaurants, festivities, population density, too many sites and, above all, cars and other horns which represent no less than 80% of what specialists call “Acoustic contamination of cities”. Spain also holds all records in terms of road nuisance because of the very strong presence of two-wheelers on its roads, more than in Italy, the country of the Vespa!
And it is a city whose inhabitants complain at 83% of the constant noise of traffic… Barcelona! The Catalan capital officially holds the European gold palm in terms of noise; It is also the sixth most noisy city in the world. In this Spanish metropolis, which welcomes an average of 15 million tourists per year, it is impossible to live the open windows. The fault of traffic of course, but also to the intense nightlife of Barcelona, which contributes to the “Acoustic torture” Deptite by many inhabitants of the city who now complain of having a very poor quality of life.
Moreover, the authorities decided, in 2023, to set up a special patrol supposed to fight against noise pollution. Their role: wander 24 hours a day in the streets of the Catalan capital to identify residents, and traders, too noisy. And beware of them: a fine of 100 euros was set up the same year!
