Dominoes are a social menace. That’s the gist of new rules brought in by the Spanish city of Seville last Friday. In attempt to reduce noise levels in the town’s streets, the local government has banned people from playing dominoes on café terraces, protecting residents from the un-muffled clac-clac of domino tiles being slapped down on table tops. Public domino-playing is just one of several new offenses being regulated by the city: Seville is also clamping down on bar owners who roll barrels along the street, on televisions in the open air, on motorists who rev their vehicles unnecessarily, and on any bar that sells food or drinks to people who consume them standing up outside. These now-forbidden activities will be punished by a minimum €300 fine (about $400 U.S.), aimed where possible at business owners.
The new rules sound pretty ludicrous; if outdoor dominoes are Seville’s most pressing problem, it must truly be a blessed spot. Still, the problem they’re trying to address is real enough. According to the World Health Organization, Spain is the noisiest country in Europe, the second noisiest in the world after Japan. Over nine million Spaniards live every day with noise levels that exceed the WHO’s recommended acceptable limit of 65 decibels. Cultural factors play some part in exacerbating the sleep disruption this causes. A classic Spanish lifestyle has evolved as a way of managing the country’s frequently hot weather, a climate that means that Seville’s average daily highs only drop below 70 degrees from November to March. Spaniards have mostly given up their siestas, but they still take advantage of cooler nights and go out later than most Europeans. 10:30 p.m. remains a perfectly normal time for a Spanish family dinner.
