Spanish Pianist Facing Jail for ‘Noise Pollution’

To most people, noise pollution is a jet engine roaring over their head. For one Spanish woman, it was a neighbour playing the piano more softly than a spoken conversation.

The woman has taken her neighbours 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. Neighbours 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.