To most people, noise pollution is a jet engine roaring over their head. For one Spanish woman, it was a neighbor playing the piano more softly than a spoken conversation.
The woman has taken her neighbors in the apartment below — a 27-year-old pianist and her parents — to court. Now prosecutors want to send all three to jail for over seven years on charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.
In a country known for its exuberant noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain about street and bar noise in Spain, but prosecutors seeking jail time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of — especially since that musician is now a professional concert pianist.
At the trial in the northeastern city of Gerona, Sonia Bosom claimed she suffered noise pollution from 2003 to 2007 due to the five-days-a-week, eight-hour practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lived below her in the northeastern town of Puigcerda.
Martin, 27, denies that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns. She claims she mostly practiced at home on the weekends.
On Monday, the first day of the trial, the El Pais newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hates pianos so much she can't even stand to see them in a film.
The prosecution claims that years of hearing constant playing has caused Bosom "psychological injury." Medical reports showed she suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks and gynecological problems.
Bosom and her family moved in 2007 and she says she has had to take time off work, reportedly due to her problems.
The prosecutor said tests by local authorities found that the sound levels made by the piano were repeatedly up to 10 decibels higher than the 30-decibel limit laid down for musical instruments in the town. City authorities asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof the room.
The family told the court they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued, the newspaper reported.
Nuria Blanes, an environmental scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said noise around 40 decibels "is not very much." A normal conversation produces 55-60 decibels, with noise in a bar reaching 65-70 decibels and an airplane in flight producing 110-120 decibels, she said.
However, she also noted that some studies have established links to health problems such as sleep disturbances and cardiovascular disease if someone faces a constant noise level of over 40 decibels during the night.
"The norm is for 30 decibels as a nighttime limit inside a house, but some authorities are widening it to daytime, which is surprising," said Fernando Simon Yarza, a constitutional law professor at Navarra University. He said that may be due to the high fines that courts have forced some towns to pay for not taking action against excessive noise levels.
"Protection against noise and environmental quality is considered a human right," he told The Associated Press.
The prosecutors have asked for all three defendants to be sentenced to six years in jail for noise pollution and an additional one-and-a-half years for psychological damage. They have also demanded that all three be prohibited from playing the piano professionally for four years.
A Catalonia Justice Tribunal spokeswoman said the trial will end Nov. 15 with the verdict issued at a later date.
据美国媒体11月12日报道，西班牙一名钢琴家练琴被指扰民，受害人自称因“噪音污染”患上多种疾病。检方想要判处这名钢琴家及其家人七年半监禁。
索尼娅•博索姆在2003年到2007年间住在西班牙东北部小镇普奇塞达的一栋公寓中。博索姆自称，4年来，她每周五天、每天八小时忍受着楼下钢琴家拉亚•马丁练琴时发出的“噪音污染”。她表示现在极度厌恶钢琴，甚至不能忍受在电影里看到它。
现年27岁的马丁是一名专业的音乐会钢琴师，否认博索姆的指控，表示自己经常去外地参加钢琴课程，只是周末在家练琴。
当地政府多次提出，要么马丁停止演奏钢琴，要么给房屋装上隔音设备。马丁家表示，他们两次安装隔音设备，但还是不断遭到投诉。
检方称，常年的噪音污染给博索姆造成了严重的“心理伤害”。医学检查报告显示，博索姆患上了失眠、急性焦虑发作和妇科疾病。博索姆2007年搬家，还因为健康问题被迫暂停工作。
博索姆将马丁及其父母三人一并告上法庭，要求判处他们七年半监禁，其中六年是因“噪音污染”指控，另有一年半是因“心理伤害”罪。此外，检方还要求4年内禁止三人专业演奏。本案审判11日开始，15日结束，判决书会在晚些时候下达。
当地有关部门检测发现，马丁练琴音量约为40分 贝，超过了当地30分贝的噪音标准。环境科学家布拉内斯说，40分贝音量“并不过分”，人正常聊天音量约为55至60分贝，酒吧中音量约为65至70分 贝。但是如果人长期在晚上受到40分贝以上噪音的困扰，心脏和睡眠可能面临问题。