City hall closes noisy supermarket

Angry neighbours complained for 15 years about “torturous” noise levels

A GRANADA supermarket has been forced to close after exceeding noise limits by more than 13 decibels.

Officials from the environment department of the Granada City Hall issued a temporary closure order on a Dani supermarket in the city after readings showed the noise generated by business at the supermarket was 48 decibels. The legal noise limit during the day cannot exceed 35 decibels in Andalucía.

Shoppers were greeted with a hand-written sign reading “Closed for Refurbishment” on the steel shutters of the supermarket on Calle Italia in the Zaidín area of the city as council officials claimed the noise generated by the shop caused “serious discomfort to nearby residents.”

Neighbours who live above the supermarket claim the noise lasted from 7.30 in the morning until ten o’clock at night as lorries unloaded goods at the delivery bay of the supermarket’s warehouse. They also allege noise was generated by the supermarket’s loud speaker system.

Speaking in newspaper Granada Hoy, the president of a local neighbours association María Ángeles Fernández said: “The noise for the neighbours was tortuous. The concrete support blocks of the building vibrated with the noise.

“If they have closed the supermarket it is because there is something that needs to be changed.”

One un-named neighbour told the newspaper after the supermarket’s closure: “It is like we have won the lottery. The noise shook the sofa in my living room for 15 years. It was like a continual thunderstorm.”

She also complained about the litter generated by the supermarket: “The pavement was always dirty with the rubbish that was thrown away and the entrance to our block of flats was always blocked by the shopping trolleys.”