This news will be welcomed by many and may be frowned on by a few BUT it is good news for bar and restaurant owners, musicians, bands and singers 🙂
Below is the new (abridged) directive, but please consult your gestor or legal advisor to ensure that you comply with other licensing laws which may effect live entertainment etc. Various comments on the news on Facebook seem to think than little will change due to the noise restrictions but others are very happy to read that things may not be as difficult as they have been to date in trying to keep the locals entertained!
The full article can be read here on EL MUNDO ….
Pubs, clubs or bars which provide live musical entertainment may, from now on, perform musical performances (concerts) without having to ask for a special permission from the Generalitat.
Modifications have been made to Article 13 where the need to request a specific permission (“complementary activity”) will no longer apply. In the previous clause, now repealed, live performances were authorised, but the musical ones were explicitly prohibited.
However, with these changes introduced, the venues that have a main activity that incorporates musical entertainment may include musical performances provided that “the acoustic limitations imposed” by the current regulations are respected .
This measure is only one of the changes introduced in the new clauses, as the Autonomous Administration is also empowered to declare “public interest” some public spectacles, recreational, socio-cultural activities and public establishments “under the conditions and with the exceptions that are determined”. That is to say, it will be the Generalitat that will have the last word in what refers to certain musical or cultural events , since they can not be vetoed by the local administration. In fact, the Generalitat grants the attributions on public spectacles, recreational and socio-cultural activities of extraordinary character that are different from those indicated in the license “.
The town councils, meanwhile, will maintain the powers over those events organized for the celebration of local or employer festivals and shows that require the use of public roads.
Similarly, the text makes flexible the possibility of organizing live performances, exhibitions or even movie shows for a reduced capacity without having to ask for a municipal license. All you have to do is present a responsible statement that guarantees that all the legal requirements are met in order to organize any of these acts. In fact, if the documentation included the certificate of an administrative certification body (Oca), the opening of the establishment “may be carried out immediately”. In this case, it will be the responsibility of the town councils to carry out the appropriate inspections to ensure that the premises comply with the legal conditions. For this, they will have a period of one month. If during this period no visit has been made, the service provider “may, under his / her responsibility, open the establishment, prior communication to the corresponding body”.
Despite taking away power from local administrations, the new regional regulations do not address (at least not directly) the request of some municipalities such as Valencia to give up the power to manage the application of serious and very serious sanctions . Of course, the document states that these powers may be delegated to the consistories that request it “and comply with the general requirements required”. The delegation of powers with respect to serious and very serious sanctions was one of the issues that the SÃndic de Greuges claimed after learning that 40% of the complaints about noises ended without sanctions because they expired without initiating the procedure.
