Residents in Barcelona’s Acoustically Stressed Zones can apply for sound insulation

The same goes for citizens living in other areas classified by the city as suffering from excessive noise pollution

The authorities in Barcelona have decided to take solid steps against the phenomenon of noise pollution. The measure proposed, however, will not deal with the external factors but rather focus on the quality of life that the housing stock provides in that respect. The city has defined several urban areas as Acoustically Stressed Zones and it has raised a budget of 1 million euros, which will go towards sound insulation.

Residents can apply for grants, which will be dispersed from the fund. These new subsidies are included in the initiatives promoted by the City Council to reduce noise pollution in the city. Noise is the second environmental factor that has the greatest impact on the health of the population, just behind air pollution.

Noise pollution, like air pollution, is not uniform across the city

The subsidies aim to replace or adapt the windows on the main facades of these buildings to reduce the effects of noise pollution in homes. In this way, the residents of the so-called Acoustically Stressed Areas at Night (ZATHN) will be able to take advantage of the aid for the rehabilitation of the City Council.

The residents of the Special Regime Acoustic Areas (ZARE) and areas affected by heavy traffic already do such as the C3 areas (Aragó, Balmes, Tarragona and Passeig Colom Streets, among others), obtaining investment aid according to their specific circumstances. Neighbourhood communities will be able to request subsidies from September until 31 December 2022.

Grants of between 30,000 and 50,000 euros per building can be requested, depending on the number of existing homes, with a maximum of up to 3,000 euros per home. The maximum period for starting the works cannot exceed 4 months once the grant is requested and must be carried out in a maximum of 8 months. Applications will be processed in order of entry in the register.