Hi Skywalker
I don’t know how they get away with it around the Consum 2 area, I have heard from a couple who have lived there for 20 odd years, they state some of the Bars are basically neighbours from hell.
I know when a Spanish friend and I went after a few bars in the Torrevieja area, the one big problem was the licencing, basically you are not permitted to play music etc unless you have the correct licence. Plus you need sound proofing & double doors etc. Also absolutely no music / noise outside. I think you will find the law in Spain is circa 45 dba after 10pm.
I guess that a lot of blind eyes were turned under the old council along with the local plod; however this should all be a thing of the past with the new council and new Police chief. All I would say is, if you are having trouble with one of the bars, then go and visit Jeff at the Town hall office, and ask him to contact the people who control the licences in Alicante.

When you talk of the Consum aream our friends live opposite in faze 4 in a Julia, this is the side near Consum, the Chinese shop, J's Bar and the Children's Charity Shop and except for the odd occasion and the fiesta have never had much bother or noise, so are you talking of the area near O'Neils, the Hogs Head and Poppies?

So we are back to this old chestnut again. While I understand that people living in certain area's are unhappy with the noise levels, on the flip side of the coin, as a bar owner I know only to well, that if you dont have any entertainment going on it very difficult to attract customers in the evenings.
With regards a licences, well we were told 4 years ago when we started the bar, that to gain a licence we would have to have a double entrance and be sound proofed.Then we would have to apply for the licence, but would still be unlikely to get it due to the size of the bar. All these things cost money which in this climate no one has. And what if we spend the money and the licence is refused? Quite a few of the bars are small like ours, so would we all go out of business? In the 4 years we have been here, we have always been respectful to our neighbours. We have karaoke once a week and keep our doors and windows closed. We regulally talk a walk around the block to see how loud it is outside and turn the music down if need be. Maybe if more people did this it would help to keep the neighbours happy. Also, have these people been and actually spoken to the bar owners concerned and asked them to quieten down a bit? I dont know what the answer is here, but im sure some sort of comprimise could be reached. No one wants to see bars and resturants closing. We want to see more people coming to La Marina, but that will only happen if we can provide the things they like. ( entertainmant being one of those things) I know this is a mainly residential area, but without the financial input from tourism we'll all be in big trouble.
I do agree with some other comments previously on here about the police being more vigilant about drink drivers! there certainly are plenty of them. Also the groups of kids hanging around the streets need to be dealt with.
Only time will tell what the new police cheif has in store for us all....

Hi I compleatly agrea with Nikki from AJ's noise is a nuisence but with a little common sense is easily sorted. This urb needs healthy busineses so unless you want to sit indoors watching TV wake up because thats your other option

Where ever you live there is always some noise as people leave licence premises.

It is such a shame that it has spoilt the enjoyment of both residents and holiday makers.

We have had our home here since it was completed in 2004 and when we first took ownership we use to enjoy some great nights out in the grey area,

Bobs bar wass a kareoke bar then and it was full of people enjoying themselves.

The original owners of the now White Swan (The Celtic Bar) had the outside area paved for dancing, that only lasted a year.

Nikki is so right,The bar owners have a hard time as it is,Our local councillor was going to try to sort out the problem last year,I believe nothing has changed,in fact if you read his blog,he talks about petty law breaking,ends up with anarchy,but from what i see young kids can break the law with impunity,and nothing is done or at least seen to be done by the police.It does get monotonous when people like Nikki tend to be blamed for drunken teenagers,wise up folks ask yourself what are the parents of these kids doing to rein in their offsspring.Jeff has stated he will talk to the chief of police this week,I will lay odds,whatever he says will not be enough,or the local police will ignore all what is agreed.

Sorry Niki, Do it legally, if you want to run a business, then yes I do know, it does cost money, however you must run your business within the law and get the correct licence and have soundproofing installed. If you only have a licence for a café, then your business is a café not a music bar.
It’s the same as saying, yes I want to run a car, but don’t want to get a driving licence as it costs money.

As for the Hogs Head being given permission to by the Lord Mayor to play music without the correct licence, I guess this would have been given be the old council and the old mayor, remember the Ex deputy mayor owns the Irish bar next to the Hog’s Head…say no more.
Sounds like Jeff and the Police need to make sure that the Bars have the correct licence, no more turning a blind eye.

Golfer,I still dont understand exactly what the problem is that you are on about,is it the noise the bars supposibly make,or people going home shouting as they go or damaging
things or is it drunken drivers when they leave places,or is it that if you run a bar next to one that is supposibly owned by an ex-councillor,you get certain preferential treatment.
All I know is that the decibel level varies to whoever you speak to.
Last year a bar in the consum area was made to stop the music and turn down the television at 10.15 one night,by the police,I believe it was Ian who was in the bar at the time,walked outside and stated that directly outside the bar the noise was barely audible,After this fiasco jeff arranged meetings between all parties i.e.police,bar owners and council,to finally sort out when,and what the bar owners can and cant do.All that i heard from these so called meetings,was that bars could get an hours extension,to open into the wee small hours by going to the town hall and ask for one.You and I know full well that the cost of bringing these bars up to scratch,would close them down,and believe you me,this place would turn into the Ghetto that jeff talks about,because the kids who seem to be the problem would end up in the parks with their cans,with no control
whatsoever,so wise up and enjoy what ever you can,some things bug many people,some learn to live with it some dont,But you can be sure that as soon as the council pot runs dry,this council will do what all councils do,and explain laws to the police so that they can fine as many people as possible and it wont only be the bars that will be paying

we moved to spain 4 years ago to live the spanish life which included music in bars that has always been part of the spanish way of life, there will always be some bars that abuse it and have there music too loud and don't turn it off when they should.

I think my statement says it all. This is worse than eastenders...Emerdale.... And Corrie all rolled into one. I think the main point everyone is forgetting is if you were a holiday maker and looking to spend money in the local bars but you walk past a bar and just see a bunch of people looking like old fogeys I mean zombies then you wouldn't go in there. Fact is when you go on holiday you look for entertainment and music just because we live here 24/7 365 days a year does not mean we sulk and moan about music. This is Spain stop inflicting your british way of life on a culture that has been here long before us and will be here long after we leave. My conclusion is if you are aggravated by all these bars and music , buy some ear plugs or go back to the country you came from. As for the 15-16 year old teenagers causing havoc on Friday and Saturday nights well I think they will be dealt with soon.

i have just seen some comments from bar owners that people should not buy houses near bars but many people bought houses long before bars were hear what do bar owners do when go home after a days work sleep some of us have to work as well and need our sleep also why do we have to have to be inflickted by somebody who screems as load as they can through speakers i am sure that if a bar owner had a noisey person living next door they would be the first phone the police please comment