Three sound level meters installed in the Serra de Tramuntana

The Sierra de Tramuntana Association (Mancomunidad de la Sierra de Tramuntana) has acquired three mobile sound level meters, which have already begun to be used to impose fines of up to €300,000 on vehicles exceeding 90 decibels. This measure, which will be applied only in urban areas—where the local councils have jurisdiction—aims to "raise awareness" so that residents of the Serra "can feel safe in their homes," explains the president of the Association, Bernat Isern.

Along the same lines, Isern explains that this measure has been taken because in urban areas the sanctioning authority rests with the local councils. In recent months, the Consell (Consell), together with the Federation of Local Entities of the Balearic Islands and the Association, have promoted a municipal noise ordinance, which has been adopted by the local councils and establishes a common legal framework for sanctioning excessive noise emissions in urban spaces. Interurban roads are the responsibility of the Council, and only the General Directorate of Traffic can impose fines. Although the island's authority does not have jurisdiction in urban areas, it has financed the purchase with a €23,798 grant awarded to the Mancomunidad (Community of Autonomous Communities) through a new line of aid specifically created for these entities this year.

The sound level meters will be rotated through the Serra municipalities following a schedule established by the Mancomunidad (Community of Autonomous Communities), and each municipality will choose how many inspections it performs. To learn how to use them, all sound level inspectors in the towns within the natural area have taken an approved course. Thus, they will carry out inspections and stop vehicles to quantify their decibel levels.

Isern hopes this measure will be "very effective" and hopes not to have to purchase more sound level meters to remedy this problem. "We hope not to have to expand it," he notes. Furthermore, regarding the complaints from neighbors about the races on the roads of the Serra The president of the Mancomunidad clarifies that "they are waiting for the Consell to install 32 cameras with sound level meters, license plate readers, and speed detectors in the Serra."