All over but the shouting - Madrid tries to keep racket down

MADRID, Spain -- Visitors to Madrid have much to marvel over: splendid architecture, sizzling nightlife, great food and people who scream at each other.

The Spanish penchant for loudness -- mouths, TV sets and myriad other outlets -- kicks in early and stays. Listen to 4-year-olds at play, or men talking soccer over a pre-luncheon vermouth. And until now, exploding decibels were OK.

But Madrid's city hall, itself blamed for much of the racket in this city of 3 million and facing elections next spring, is encouraging quiet.

"SSSHHH. Control your noise" as the campaign is called, started Sept. 13 and is due to last through the end of 2003.

Fingers raised to their lips, a dozen blue-clad mimes have begun to roam bustling streets with a choreographed skit urging children and adults to speak softly.

Placido Perera, head of noise at the city's environmental protection unit, said that after 30 years of studying noise he's concluded Madrid is indeed loud, though probably no worse than other major European cities.

What sets Madrid apart, Perera said, is that residents whining about noise often have themselves to blame. The campaign aims to curb things like speaking in bellows, honking a split second after a traffic light turns green and loud late-night carousing.

"These are very Spanish behaviors," he said.

Why all the yelling in the first place?

Perera says Spain is an example of a Mediterranean culture in which nice weather leads people to spend lots of time outdoors, on the street, where louder discourse is a necessity. The problem is they take those decibels back home with them, or to the office.