Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium Defeats Criminal Case Over Taylor Swift, Karol G Concert Noise

Real Madrid says it has won the dismissal of a criminal investigation into alleged noise pollution from concerts at Bernabéu Stadium, which has hosted major shows from artists like Taylor Swift and Karol G.

On Wednesday (May 13), the soccer club announced that the Provincial Court of Madrid had issued a ruling “definitively ending the criminal process” that began in 2024 with a legal complaint from local residents in the city’s affluent Chamartín neighborhood.

“The aforementioned judicial resolution clearly and categorically concludes that neither José Ángel Sánchez Periáñez, the club’s general director and member of its Board of Directors, nor Real Madrid Estadio S. L. are responsible for any criminal offense in relation to the concerts held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium,” reads the Wednesday announcement. “Real Madrid expresses its satisfaction with this judicial resolution, which confirms the absolutely unfounded and instrumental nature of the complaint.”

Bernabéu Stadium, which has been home to Real Madrid for decades, underwent an extensive renovation in recent years, with plans to become a major new epicenter for live music. The stadium hosted a series of massive shows in the summer of 2024, including Swift’s Eras Tour and Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito Tour.

In September 2024, however, Real Madrid announced that it would suspend all concerts amid concerns about sound levels from the stadium. Around the same time, a Madrid judge accepted a criminal noise complaint that had been filed by a local residents’ organization called Asociación Perjudicados por el Bernabéu (Neighborhood Association of Those Affected by the Bernabéu), according to the New York Times.

This led to a lengthy judicial investigation, which included court testimony from Real Madrid’s director, Sánchez. Per the Times, Sánchez testified in October 2024 that any noise issues at the stadium were the fault of concert promoters, not the stadium.

This past January, Judge Monica Aguirre de la Cuesta completed her investigation and determined that a trial should be held on evidence of a possible “crime against the environment, in its form of noise pollution,” the Times reported. But Real Madrid appealed that ruling and, according to the soccer club, won a decision from the higher Provincial Court throwing out the criminal case entirely on Wednesday.  

According to Real Madrid, the Provincial Court found that this sort of environmental code issue did not warrant a criminal proceeding. Also according to the club, the court agreed with Real Madrid that concert promoters are the ones who hold responsibility “for ensuring compliance with the decibel limits for ambient sound transmission.”

A representative for the court did not immediately return an inquiry seeking a copy of the ruling. Asociación Perjudicados por el Bernabéu also did not return Billboard’s request for comment.

It is not yet clear if and when Bernabéu Stadium will begin hosting concerts again. The stadium has been undergoing additional construction, including soundproofing, and Real Madrid announced last year that it expected this work to be completed in 2026.