- Ribadesella, a rural town in Asturias poked fun at tourists who make noise complaints when visiting.
- The town’s Twitter page shared a poster warning of its church bells, roosters, and cowbells.
- “If you can’t handle all this, you may not be in the right place,” the poster reads.
A Spanish town warned tourists who make noise complaints not to visit if they “can’t handle” the natural soundscape of rural life.
Ribadesella, a northern coastal town in Asturias, Spain, with an estimated population of 5,700, shared a poster on their Twitter page on August 12 warning tourists that churchbells, roosters, livestock, and tractors are a part of their everyday life.
The poster reads: “Here we have church bells that ring out regularly, roosters that crow early in the morning and herds of livestock that live nearby and at times carry cowbells that also make noise.”
It added: “If you can’t handle all this, you may not be in the right place.”
—Ayuntamiento de Ribadesella (@AytoRibadesella) August 12, 2021
Speaking to Antena 3 News on Tuesday, Ramón Canal, the Mayor of Ribadesella in Asturias, said the poster was shared in retaliation to noise complaints made by those visiting the town.
“Last week we had a lady who called us three or four times over a rooster that was waking her up at 5 a.m. She told us that we had to do something,” he told the news outlet, according to The Guardian.
“One needs to realize that milk doesn’t come in cartons, it comes from cows, and that you have to feed and maintain them,” the mayor added, highlighting the contradiction of seeking out a rural vacation but not enjoying nature.
According to Asturias local newspaper, La Voz de Asturias, the town’s deputy mayor, Luis Sánchez, said the poster was inspired by Saint-André-de-Valborgne, a town in the French region of Occitania which has a population of about 400 people.
The French town tweeted a similar image in January to warn holidaymakers that they cannot alter the sounds of the countryside and they must enter at their own risk.
—#agridemain (@Agridemain) January 9, 2021
“We have to know how to combine tourism with the rural world. If you come to a rural hotel, you have to be aware that it is rural and that this is daily life in the villages,” Sánchez told the the publication.
Ribadesella’s tongue-in-cheek poster campaign was not all negative. It noted that “privileged” visitors who can tolerate the noise will “enjoy the wonderful surroundings and the excellent products made by our fantastic farmers, ranchers or artisans,” The Guardian reports.
It concluded: “Enjoy Ribadesella!”
Representatives for Ribadesella’s tourism board did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.