MADRID, Spain (AP) -- A coalition of sky gazers -- united under the rallying cry "Who Stole the Milky Way?" -- have extracted promises from at least 20 Spanish cities and towns to put the twinkle back into the stars.

Bright lights in Spain blot out the stars, disturb nocturnal species, waste energy and dim the romance of night strolls, even in much of the countryside.

"Madrid is lit up like a sports stadium at night," said Francisco Pujol, spokesman for the Spanish Astronomic Studies Group that leads "Who Stole the Milky Way?" -- a protest bringing together more than 100 astronomers, engineers and ecologists.

"You can read anywhere on any street, even small print, at 3 a.m.," said Pujol, who has studied light pollution for 10 years in Spain.

The lights for Barcelona's 1.5 million residents form a glowing orb that can be seen from the island of Mallorca, 125 miles to the south. And a radiant patchwork of highway lights crisscrosses large parts of the Spanish countryside.

A study by the astronomers' group concludes Madrid and Barcelona, famed for all-night bars, floodlit monuments and illuminated boulevards, have five or six times as much light as they need for comfort and safety at night.

"The stars. What stars?" asks Carlos Iglesias, a 36-year-old bartender in Madrid. "When I go somewhere else I really notice the difference." Outside town it's so nice and dark, Iglesias adds, that "I feel blind at night."

More than 30 percent of the public lighting in Spain is wasted, says the study, filtering skyward and washing out starlight.

One of the group's main targets is the traditional Madrid street lamp -- an ornate, black cast-iron pole topped by a white globe that sprays yellow light in all directions.

Madrid City Hall has set a deadline of 2010 for replacing the 50,000 glowing globes. "It's becoming a problem with the public, because they love the globe-shaped lamps," said Alfonso Marcos, the head of Madrid's public lighting department. "They light up treetops for a beautiful effect and create a sensation of warmth. Residents always want them in their neighborhoods."

Barcelona, Cordoba, Guadalajara and more than 20 other communities throughout Spain have also promised to adopt measures against excessive lighting in the next year or so.

Investment in efficient lighting, the environmentalist group Greenpeace estimates, could pay for itself in three years through energy savings.

"The waste of light here is intolerable," said Jose Luiz Garcia, an adviser to Greenpeace.

The night-owl habits of Spaniards, with 11 p.m. dinners and discotheques that close after daybreak, also feed the problem, he said.

Greenpeace says street lights and city lights illuminate the habitat of nocturnal animals, altering mating and feeding habits, as well as occasionally giving an edge to predators.

While light pollution has become an issue in North America and parts of Europe, Garcia said most Spaniards never associate light with environmental problems.

"Spain started a tradition of environmentalism much later than other European countries, and it's still low on the list of priorities," he said.