"An example of how politicians and government institutions support businesses to the detriment of neighbors and citizens is found in Arrecife on Jose Antonio streets, Coronel Benz, Igualdad and the Almacén area, to give some examples," begins this neighbor, who states that the residents of these streets suffer from discos and pubs "for many years".
"Why? Because the discos do not comply with the regulations: They are not properly soundproofed, they do not respect closing times, some do not have a double door and, even if they have them, they keep them open all night," denounces this neighbor. On the other hand, he also points out that "the streets are filled with people making a racket, fighting, urinating on the corners and on the very doors of the houses, vomiting and also destroying cars, windows, shop windows and street furniture".
"It is assumed that there are regulations for discos, and that if someone is making a racket at night, the Local Police must fine them and even arrest them if they continue to do so. But the reality is that neither the regulations are complied with nor the Local Police fines the noisy ones," laments this neighbor.
This man explains that "good soundproofing for a premises of about 50 meters costs around 30,000 euros". "That is money that businessmen do not want to spend, they prefer not to soundproof properly and screw all the neighbors around without letting them sleep at night," he says indignantly.
Noise and scandal
This neighbor of José Antonio street explains that "the music from inside the premises is transmitted through solid materials to the bedrooms, passes through walls, ceilings, floors and even through the street". In this sense, he gives an example: "I live about 30 meters from a disco. There are two buildings in the middle and in my house you can hear the bass sounds of the music. Although it doesn't bother me, but it does bother those who live closer. I know because they open first in the afternoon, at 8:00 p.m. more or less, and at that time there are no more discos open," he says.
This man assures that, faced with this situation, some neighbors have gone to complain to the City Council. "But it turns out that these nightlife businessmen have carte blanche to do absolutely whatever they want. They have the full support of the City Council and the Local Police," he assures.
"There was a time when the City Council itself promoted going out partying in the area, despite the fact that from the beginning the neighbors complained. And what the Local Police has done many times is to close the street to traffic so that people can express themselves in it, instead of evicting and fining those who make a racket, which is what they should do. Thus, the streets become an extension of the dance floor", he complains.
Therefore, he assures that the neighbors are "outraged" and "fed up" with this situation. "The Arrecife City Council allows a few businessmen to make money at the expense of the suffering of many residents. Residents who have to endure not sleeping on weekends and the eve of holidays, who find pee and vomit on the very door of their house and who find their car and windows with blows," he says.
In addition, this neighbor exposes another complaint: "And on top of that, many of these businessmen are not from the island. Most are foreigners (or at least not from the Canary Islands)," says this reader, who wants to make it clear that he does not intend to "be xenophobic", but does point out that "this happens". "Although the origin of each one does not matter either, because those who have to control this lack of control are from here, but they seem to be at the service of money, or of the company, as you want to say. Powerful gentleman Don Dinero, it doesn't matter where he comes from," he specifies.
Sanction the premises
This neighbor has a very easy solution for this problem: "It would be necessary to sanction every week the premises that do not comply (and of course making the sanctions effective), putting several local police officers patrolling all those streets controlling the drinking in the street and fining those who make a racket".
However, according to him, this "is not done, because the owners of the discos need the party to be not only inside the premises but also outside, that the whole area is a nonsense". "If not, the business is not profitable. A business based on the suffering of neighbors and merchants", he concludes in his letter to La Voz.