Headphones at Gay Pride

The protests, the stalled negotiations and the threats of cancellation are over. Madrid will have its Gay Pride celebrations after all, there will be an outdoor stage in Chueca square, and the city will even pay for it. In return, festival organizers have agreed to eliminate the noise by holding "silent" concerts that can only be heard with headphones.

A last-minute meeting between the organizers, on one side, and Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and Environment Commissioner Ana Botella on the other, finally found a fair solution to a stumbling block that had kept negotiations deadlocked for over two weeks: excessive noise.

Out of deference for a street celebration that attracts tens of thousands of people to the city center in early July every year, local authorities had raised its own outdoor noise limits at four festival hotspots: Plaza del Rey, Calle Pelayo, Plaza de Callao and Plaza de España. Although the city code says that noise may not exceed 45 decibels between 11pm and 7am, exceptions can be made, and city leaders placed the ceiling at 90 decibels at these squares between 11pm and 2:30am from Thursday June 29 through Saturday, July 2.

The problem was that Plaza de Chueca, the most symbolic city landmark for the gay pride movement, was left out of this exception. The city ordinance does not permit altering the noise limits if there is a health center or a senior residence within 150 meters of the site - which there is. Organizers complained that in 2010 they already "lost" another square, Vázquez de Mella, for the same reasons (there is a senior residence nearby) and because of continued noise complaints by local residents.

Although a group of festival supporters staged protests over the city's decision to keep noise down at Chueca square, and even followed the mayor to his home one evening to intimidate him, their actions were useless. Meanwhile, a neighborhood association made sure that the city did not relent on the noise issue, and even took their case to court to ensure full compliance with the law.

So, in the end, the festival gets to keep Chueca, but they can only program "silent sessions" there, which will be heard on the frequency of a radio station called Loca FM, and on the internet. Only people with headphones connected to a radio transistor or a cellphone (using an application available for iPhones, Androids and Blackberries) will be able to pick up on this DJ music. The idea came from festival organizers as a way to overcome their clashes with the residents. As a reward, the city promised to put up money for the initiative.

"We didn't want to lose the square, so we came up with the solution ourselves," said Antonio Poveda, president of the Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transexuals and Bisexuals.

Although any headphones will do, organizers are racing to find a sponsor to provide them to patrons, similar to the practice in high-speed trains and airplanes, said Juan Carlos Alonso, president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Business Owners.

The same system will be used in Plaza de Vázquez de Mella, inside the tent that will be holding social and cultural activities. Organizers are also considering the option of building a giant soundproof box, made with see-through methacrylate, where "trapped" bands can broadcast their concerts over the same radio frequency. Whether this idea is economically feasible is still up in the air, however.

Silent concerts are nothing new. The idea has been commercially exploited by a Dutch company for years, and the FIB festival has been holding them since 2006.

"They dance like crazy, but they don't make too much noise, it's a lot quieter than a regular dance floor," says Gustavo Navedo, a FIB spokesman. "There's always one or two people who sing really loud, but in general, it's like a room with people talking inside."

City leaders were also anxious to ensure that the festival would take place. Last year, Gay Pride Madrid brought in an estimated 31 to 42 million euros, a substantial amount for a municipality steeped in debt. In 2010, the city put up 45,000 euros for the Plaza de España stage, where Kylie Minogue performed to a crowd of thousands. Organizers say that 90 percent of performers do it for free, but the infrastructure costs still need to be met.

The Gay Pride festival has had a history of controversy since its beginnings in 1978. Although it is highly attractive for local businesses, residents have complained for years about the noise and filth generated by thousands of people drinking out of doors, yelling and relieving themselves against the walls for entire nights at a time. For years, Plaza de Chueca was the heart of a celebration that included live performances and a sound system blaring club music at top volume. The plaza's small size amplified the sound even as thousands of people packed the square tight, forcing many residents to move out for the duration of the festivities.