Madrid residents fear that the recently renovated Santiago Bernabéu football stadium will become an ‘events dramedy’, with 15 shows scheduled for the summer months.
The show of the season, however, will undoubtedly be Taylor Swift’s, as the Blank Space hitmaker’s performances will span two days later this week, as she makes her next stop on the European leg of his acclaimed ‘Eras Tour’.
With just a few days to go before the big show, enthusiasm among Swifties in the Spanish capital is increasing.
But the enthusiasm is not shared among the residents of the Bernabéu neighborhood, located in the Madrid district of Chamartín.
They claim that recent concerts have been unbearably loud and some say the noise exceeds the permitted decibels.
Local resident Patricia Barnuevo, 24, said the concerts are “turning out to be more damaging than expected.”
“This means that there are more people, that every day there is noise coming from the area and that it moves away from the roots of the stadium itself.”
“It was built to create a community for Real Madrid fans and football followers, and now that traditional aspect is being removed.”
He added that new problems are arising due to the increased recurrence of concerts at the stadium, with sound checks during the day altering the class schedules of students from surrounding schools.
Barnuevo also expressed that the local area is not prepared for the magnitude of the Eras Tour phenomenon.
“People, including myself, are afraid of what will happen, because when a lot of people get together, it can cause a lot of overpopulation.”
Residents of the Bernabéu have expressed concern about Taylor Swift’s upcoming concerts in Madrid, claiming that the stadium hosts too many concerts with unbearable noise.
Since its remodeling, the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in the capital of Spain is increasingly used for musical events.
An X account with the username @Ruido_Bernabeu created by a resident claimed that an Alejandro Sanz concert earlier this month had reached 84.9 decibels.
According to a Spanish media outlet, The vanguard, The limit for a residential area at night in Madrid is 50.
Furthermore, those attending the few concerts held so far at the Real Madrid stadium have pointed out that the acoustics are poor.
However, Tito Ramoneda, from the promoter The Project, stated that the Bernabéu will not generate bad acoustics.
‘There is a question of equipment configuration, of sound concept, of the artist and the band knowing how they want to sound and having quality equipment… The acid test will be Taylor Swift. And I’m sure she’ll sound like a joke.’
The stadium has been hosting more concerts after Real Madrid signed a 20-year agreement in 2022 with the group Legends and the investment fund Sixth Street for the use of the venue as an events and leisure space, for which it will receive €360 million.
As the summer sees multiple stadium shows, residents are calling for a solution.
However, Barnuevo hopes that the changes made to the Bernabéu when it underwent its refurbishment in 2023 have prepared it well to cope with music fans.
“The construction that has been done has been for this, and change is part of this process, but hopefully the concerns raised by residents will be heard and our comments will be taken into account.”
This comes just days after Swift’s Eras tour in Lisbon was plunged into chaos on Friday, when angry fans tore down a fence after waiting for hours in the scorching heat.
It was reported that 200 fans broke through security gates and forced their way into the stadium, terrifying security personnel.
The singer’s first show in Portugal didn’t get off to a great start as fans waited outside for 45 minutes to enter the stadium.
200 fans reportedly broke through security gates and forced their way into the stadium, terrifying security personnel.
Before the concert, massive queues of fans could be seen beginning to form outside the stadium due to the delay as frustrated fans proceeded to yell at staff: “Let us in!”
Fans had to stand in line in the heat as they stood in line waiting to be let into the arena.
Before the concert, massive queues of fans could be seen beginning to form outside the stadium due to the delay as frustrated fans proceeded to yell at staff: “Let us in!”
Gates were due to open for those with standard tickets at 4:00 p.m., however it was reported that fans were not allowed in until 4:45 p.m.
The rock band Paramore opened the concert after 7 p.m., however, the tickets indicated that the show was to begin at 6 p.m.
Temperatures in the stadium were also very high, 66 degrees, when Taylor finally took the stage at 8 p.m.
Before the concert, security had a strict rule of not allowing water bottles into the arena.
However, as fans had to wait for long periods in the heat, they made a last-minute change to allow water bottles into the open-roof stadium.
According to USA Today Entertainment, Taylor took the stage and did not apologize to fans for the delay or wait, and her team reportedly did not respond to an email when asked about the late start.
Instead, he thanked his fans saying: “This is the first time I come to Portugal and this is how they receive us.”
Swift returned to her £1.4bn Eras tour in style earlier this month when she debuted new sets from The Tortured Poets Department on stage in Paris.
