You may not know it, but many of your electronic devices, such as cell phones, televisions and smart displays, are designed to receive alert messages that do not depend on the traditional telephone network.
[Alertas de emergencia en Android: Qué son y cómo se configuran]
These systems can be used by governments to send messages to the population in times of extreme emergency; such as military attacks, massive disasters or weather emergencies.
The government will send mobile alerts
Over the next few weeks, the Civil Protection, dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, will organize several tests of the ES alert system
The Civil Protection specified that the alert will be a simple test, and that it has no other intention than to prove that the system ensures adequately; in other words, so that when the population really needs to be informed, the system is ready and all possible problems solved.
Civil Protection Alert System
ES-Alert is an alert system capable of sending messages to any mobile phone covered in Europe, regardless of the type of technology you use; it therefore works just as well with the latest 5G as with old mobiles still connected in 2G (GSM), including 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE). It was designed so that civil protection authorities can immediately send alerts to everyone in a specific area, such as those affected by an emergency or natural disaster.
The purpose of these messages is to provide the information necessary to guarantee the safety of the person, whether it is indications of what to do, or advice to facilitate the work of the emergency services. As it is automatically sent to all cell phones in an area, it is a quick and direct way to contact citizens in extremely serious cases.
ES-Alert was implemented on June 21, but it needs to be tested on a large scale. This means that from next Monday our mobile will make us “scared”: it will beep and show us a message
- October 24: Cantabria, Andalusia and Asturias.
- October 27: Extremadura, Valencian Community and Galicia.
- November 2: Murcia, Balearic Islands, Madrid, Aragon, Navarre and Catalonia.
- November 10: Basque Country, Castile and León, Canary Islands and Ceuta
- November 16: Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja and Melilla.
If we receive this message, we have nothing to do at all; and if we do not receive it also. Civil Protection has clarified that not all cell phones will receive the alert, so we should not worry if for some reason it does not reach us.
