Barcelona tests emergency alert system on mobile phones

Around 90% of phones in Barcelona and its surrounding area received emergency message alerts on Thursday as authorities tested their systems. 

The alert messages began at 10 am in various areas surrounding Barcelona: Vallès Oriental, Maresme, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Badalona, and Santa Coloma de Gramenet.

A sound alert went off on phones as a message popped up on screens reading: "Civil Protection alert test of the Catalan government. It's a drill. Do not call 112. In a real emergency, you would receive instructions to protect yourself."

At 11 am, everyone in the Catalan capital received the message. 

At 12 noon, it was the turn of residents of the Vallès Occidental county, just inland of Barcelona, where the cities of Sabadell and Terrassa are located. 

Then at 1 pm, people in Baix Llobregat and l’Hospitalet de Llobregat got the alerts. 

Latest generation mobile devices, i.e. Android version 11 or higher and iOS version 15.6 or higher, have alerts enabled by default.

For older phones, you need to configure them to receive them. The message will also be received by people who are passing the area by road or rail.

To evaluate the test, the government will open a citizens' survey to inform whether they received the message or not, in which language, and which operator they are with, among other questions.

The survey, which is anonymous and does not collect personal data, will be activated on Thursday.

"I actually panicked"

People walking in La Barceloneta beach were surprised by the test emergency text, as most of them were in Barcelona as tourists and did not know about the test.

"I actually panicked. I wondered, what is happening?," says Furkham, a visitor from Turkey. 

Furkham, as well as other people, found that the language was a difficulty when understanding the message: "It was in Spanish or another language that we do not know, so we got the emergency alert but we could not understand it," he mentioned. 

Escarlet, from Chile, says that in the beginning she did not understand it "but then I read it twice and I said 'Ok, perfect!'". 

Minister hails test as "success"

Catalonia's interior minister Joan Ignasi Elena said the drill was a "success" with around 90% of phones receiving the alert. 

Elena said that the system worked as expected and that the objective was to give "clear and exceptional messages" to people. 

The minister also explained that the test served to inform the population of the existence of the emergency message system. 

"The ideal is to reach 100% of phones, and this [test] will help us move in that direction," he added,