Spain has rules on noise pollution outlined in various pieces of legislation, whether it be the laws on building regulations, the Horizontal Property Law, the so-called ‘Noise Law’, and a whole host other regional decrees and municipal ordinances that protect and regulate the ‘urban environment’.
This could be for obvious things like doing construction work in a building or playing music late at night, but it could also be for something as simple as using the washing machine at night.
But is it legal to put on the washing machine late at night in Spain?
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Each municipality in Spain has its own ordinances to regulate noise pollution, usually establishing both decibel and time limits. You should check with your local ayuntamiento (town hall) in order to get the specifics where you live.
Some municipalities even have outright bans on appliances like washing machines that make noise at night. In Barcelona it is forbidden to use noisy electrical appliances after 9pm and in Zaragoza and Cuenca the limit is 10pm.
Though the rules can vary from town to town, generally there’s a sound limit of 35 decibels at night. Note that Spain’s biggest consumer watchdog group, the OCU, states that for many washing machine models the decibel level during the wash cycle is between 46 and 57 decibels.
During the spin cycle, this can even reach 70 decibels, noise levels that exceed the limits set by municipalities across the country.
In terms of rules and timetables, it depends where you are in Spain but they’re usually something close to the following format:
- No loud or excessive noise between 00:00-08:00 hours or from 23:00-07:00.
- During the day activities carried out in the home should not exceed 35 decibels and that at night the noise level should remain between 25 and 30 decibels.
On the other hand, it’s also worth mentioning that Article 7 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law bans people from carrying out activities prohibited in la comunidad bylaws “which are harmful, annoying, unhealthy, noxious, dangerous or unlawful”.
La comunidad in Spain is like a homeowners’ association that exists within a building. It will have a president and perhaps even a committee that draws up rules and bylaws for peaceful co-living among neighbours. Check in your building if there are any specific regulations on using the washing machine late at night that go beyond the local noise ordinance.
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Turning on your washing machine and letting it rattle away through the night as people try to get to sleep will likely be viewed as annoying and unhealthy by many of your neighbours, even if it didn’t break any rules in terms of decibel levels.
If you do, besides straining your relationship with your neighbours it’s unlikely that you’d face any penalties. Fines and sanctions aren’t outlined in Spain’s civil code nor are they that common in the statutes of la comunidad, but there could plausibly be a sanction system outlined in some municipal ordinances.
The amount of the fines will depend on the regulations in question, but could range from €750-€3,000 depending on the circumstances according to RTVE, Spain’s state broadcaster.
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