The “Nuevo
Apolo” Theatre, located at "Tirso de Molina", was closed by Madrid City Council for a breach of municipal regulation regarding acoustic insulation.
According the theatre management “it’s
impossible to fulfil”, reported in a press conference by Carlos Lopez, director of the theatre who claimed they did have a
license to operate and favourable reports from all agencies except Environment. However it has been rumoured the cessation of
activity centre is due to its lack of the necessary license.
So, due to
the complaint from just one neighbour, who refused to have her apartment insulated even though it would be funded
by the theatre, they proceeded to close it for not achieving the
insulation of 80dB required by law, something “impossible and unnecessary” according
to reports from experts.
He stated,
no other theatres meet these regulations, described as "madness", with a permitted
range of 65 to 70db. Along these lines, he stressed that neither “Circo Price” nor
“España” Theatres meet the requirements.
On the
other hand, the paradox that the “Nuevo Alcala” is a listed national heritage
building, so any type of modification requires special procedures. In that sense, the theatre adapted its sound system in 2013, complying with the 35db acoustic
emission limit, without soundproofing.
While waiting
for the judge to "understand their situation", revoke the decision and
allow them to at least comply with their planned schedule, the only options the
theatre has are to change the law or include itself in the census of local Madrid
Cultural Heritage members, which is not applied to them in the ordinance because
of its “features and oddities”. Regarding
these, Environment argues that the second option is the only way and so they
moved, but the manager of the theatre said that was initiated by the closure
itself.
The planned
act last night was cancelled resulting in a ticket refund, which will be the way
to go if the judge doesn't allow a provisional opening.
