There is a disused secadero (tobacco-drying brick barns) that has been turned into a live-music venue in Alhendin on the outskirts of Granada, and it is very popular. However, the owner has just received a 30-month prison sentence for having the live music too loud, which means that the term exceeds the probation limit of 24 months and consequently, he will actually have to serve time.
Everybody is flabbergasted, after all, if you knock somebody over through careless driving, you’ll get 36 months, which was the case for an individual from Sevilla, so how can you get just six months less for having your music on too loud?
Furthermore, José Luis Sánchez, owner of El Secadero, will also have to pay 30,000 euros in compensation to the nine neighbours who denounced him, for good measure.
Needless to say, he is going to appeal before the Regional Supreme Court (TSJA).
On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Urbanización Los Álamos; neighbours of El Secadero point out that the owner of the venue has done nothing in the last 14 years to remedy the situation; i.e., continual excessive noise. One family has the misfortune to have their back garden bordering on the terrace of the venue, where the open-air concerts in the summer are held.
Musicians from all over the country are also up in arms, with the online social networks sparking in indignation. At the moment there is a petition circulating in which several hundred musicians claim that they are the guilty ones, and not the venue owner, so the judge can lock them up too.
El Secadero is part of a nationwide music circuit and has hosted over 1,000 concerts. In fact, the condemned owner is the Chairman of the Music Venue Association for Andalucia.
Speaking as a musician who has played everywhere from the provincial prison to national TV since 1985, the very essence of Spain is being stamped out in an attempt to turn it into Europe. La Alegría de España is being swamped by PC Euro-sameness, unfortunately, and it is virtually impossible to find anywhere to play. This place used to be a hive of nightlife activity and the coast hummed. Now you can’t smoke, you can’t drink and you can’t fart in public without a Local Policeman running behind you with a decibel meter.