MADRID – Don’t be alarmed if this Monday your cell phone starts beeping and your device starts vibrating at the same time. Spain will start testing ES-Alert, a rapid alert protocol for emergencies or impending disasters, on October 24.
The initiative comes from the Ministry of the Interior, which conducts this test on a pre-selected number of mobile numbers. This is the ES-Alert system, also called ‘112 reverse’, which sends a beep to the selected numbers. Furthermore, along with the beep, the phones will vibrate and receive a message. This will explain it is a test of the civil defence alarm system over mobile phone networks. But that nothing special needs to be done. They mainly want to know whether the system is functioning properly.
The messages are sent by the emergency centres. They are being coordinated with the National Emergency Monitoring and Coordination Centre of the Ministry of the Interior. The ministry conducts these tests through the Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies until 16 November.
Calendar of tests in the autonomous communities
The test is being conducted in several autonomous communities. Cantabria, Andalucia and Asturias are the first to receive the beep on their mobile phones. This will happen on Monday 24 October. Moreover, those who receive the beep, will be able to read the warning.
Three days later, on October 27, it will be the turn of Extremadura, the Valencian Community and Galicia. Meanwhile on Wednesday, November 2, some residents of Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, Aragón, Navarra and Catalonia will receive the message.
On 10 November, the Basque Country, Castilla y León, Canary Islands and Ceuta regions will see what the ES-Alert system is all about. Finally, on Wednesday 16 November, it will be the turn of the communities of Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja and Melilla.
One of the measures of the recovery plan
The deployment of the Es-Alert warning system is one of the measures included in the Connectivity and Digital Infrastructures Plan and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The protocol was put into use on 21 June. Furthermore, it is the result of a collaboration between the Ministries of the Interior and Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, financed with recovery and resilience funds.
ES-Alert System – 112 Reverse
Integrated into the National Alert Network, ES-Alert technology allows civil defence authorities to send general and immediate alert messages to mobile phones. Moreover, these messages would only be sent to mobiles located in an area affected by an emergency or catastrophe. The technology will be made available to national and regional civil protection authorities.
