Checking traffic, rail, airport and bin-collection noise

Key rules

• City maps: Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants must publish noise maps, usually with an online viewer.
• Update cycle: Maps are updated every five years, so recent changes may be missing.
• Night services: Bin collection and street cleaning are not on noise maps; get the street's schedule from the town hall.
• Own visit: Check the street at night and at rush hour as well as on the map.

Start with the official noise maps

Official strategic noise maps (mapas estratégicos de ruido) show traffic, rail and airport noise by area. You can check an address on them for free, before you visit.

Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants must produce these maps. They are published on the city's environment (medio ambiente) web page. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Málaga have online viewers where you type in an address or zoom to the street.

Viewer addresses change often. Search the city's name plus "mapa estratégico de ruido" to find the current one.

The maps are updated every five years. A new road, a new rail line or a change in flights may not show yet.

Check the national viewer for roads, rail and airports

The national noise information system, SICA, hosts a viewer of strategic noise maps. It also links to the maps of the big cities. Use it for major infrastructure and for places outside the six cities above.

Who maps what:

• State roads: the Ministry of Transport.
• Railways: ADIF and the Ministry of Transport.
• Airports: Aena, on each airport's environment page, with noise footprints.
• Regional roads: the regional government publishes its own maps.

If you are near a railway or a state road, check the viewer first and then ask the body that runs it.

What if your town is small?

Smaller towns may have no map of their own. The national and regional maps can still cover a main road, railway or airport nearby. For local noise, ask the town hall.

Find out when the street is cleaned and bins are emptied

Maps do not show night-time street services. Bin collection and street cleaning are run by the town hall, so check its schedule.

• Look on the town hall's cleaning (limpieza) page.
• Try the city's app.
• Call the city information line (010 in many cities) or the cleaning contractor.

In many large cities, general waste is collected at night, from about 20:00-22:00 until early morning. Street sweeping and washing often run overnight or at dawn. Times vary by city, district and street, so ask about the exact street.

Signs on the street show cleaning days where parking is restricted. These are a useful clue to when crews come.

Do it in this order

1. Look the address up on the city's noise map, or on the national viewer.
2. Ask the road, rail or airport operator if you are close to one.
3. Get the bin and cleaning times for the street.
4. Visit at night and at rush hour to hear it yourself.

The questions below cover small towns, update frequency and who to ask.

Frequently asked questions

Does a small town have a strategic noise map?

Usually not, because only cities and agglomerations with more than 100,000 inhabitants must produce strategic noise maps. If your town is smaller, ask the town hall's environment (medio ambiente) department whether it has any local noise study. Roads, railways and airports run by the state can still be mapped even if the town is small.

How often are strategic noise maps updated?

Strategic noise maps are updated every five years. A map may therefore not show a recent road, rail line or runway change. Check the date on the map before relying on it.

Who do I ask about noise from a railway or a state road?

For a state road, the Ministerio de Transportes (its roads department) maps the noise. For railways, the maps come from ADIF, the rail infrastructure manager, and the Ministerio de Transportes. Regional governments publish maps for the roads they run themselves.

How do I find out when bins are collected on a street?

Look on the town hall's cleaning (limpieza) page or in the city app, or call the city information line, which is 010 in many cities.