Civil Protection will conduct new tests of the ES-Alert mobile phone alert system throughout Catalonia this September and October. The tests will be conducted on four different days and according to geographic areas grouped by veguerias (villages). On September 10, the tests were already conducted in Lleida, the Alt Pirineu, and Aran. On September 16, they will be conducted in Girona and Central Catalonia; on September 30, in Tarragona, the Terres de l'Ebre, and the Penedès; and on October 8, in Barcelona. All tests will be scheduled for 10:00 a.m., and the message will be received approximately every 15 minutes. The objective of the simulation is to evaluate the system's operation and effectiveness. A questionnaire survey will also be conducted to verify ES-Alert reception.
Why is the government increasingly using emergency alerts on mobile phones?
Most of them have been caused by fires, followed by floods and chemical emergencies.
BarcelonaSuddenly, the phone emits a shrill sound, to which we were previously unfamiliar, and a text from the Generalitat Civil Protection appears, often accompanied by a danger signal with an exclamation point. The content of the message varies depending on the emergency: there is a fire nearby and you must stay indoors; downpours are forecast and it is recommended to avoid outdoor activities; there has been an accident that could cause a chemical cloud… This is the ES-Alert alert, which sends pop-up messages to all mobile phones within an area. It was recently sent to the vast majority of the Catalan population (37 of the 43 regions) due to the torrential rains in mid-July.
According to Civil Protection data accessed by ARA, 120 alerts of this type have been sent in Catalonia since 2022, the year it was implemented. However, its implementation has grown exponentially in 2025: so far this year, 54 alerts have been issued, practically half of all those registered so far. Eleven of these alerts (35 since 2022) have been drills, as Civil Protection admits that it can be frightening and wants citizens to become accustomed to it. July was particularly intense, coinciding with the major forest fires of the summer. In this period alone, 35 alerts were sent, the highest number in a single month. For example, eleven were sent in May, six in June, and only two in August.
And why have they been sent? More than half of the alerts since 2022, up to 57, have been linked to forest fires. In these cases, a specific population is usually ordered to self-isolate or to stop being confined at home. Then come the floods, which have triggered twenty alerts, and finally, chemical emergencies, with eight warnings. Their use has increased: in 2022, only one alert was sent, which was a drill; in 2023, there were already 29; in 2024, they rose to 36, and in 2025, 54 have already been issued as of August 19. Civil Protection sources indicate that Catalonia is the territory in Spain that has sent the most alerts, and that the warnings issued by the Generalitat (Catalan Government) could even equal or exceed those sent by all the regional governments.
"It's a dispatch system that gives us great coverage quickly. One of our functions is to warn the population of the risks that may affect them, and in a serious risk situation, it has proven useful in delivering our warnings, orders, and recommendations," says Marta Cas, Director of Civil Protection for the Generalitat (Catalan Government). There are towns that have grown accustomed to that shrill sound this year. The town with the record number of alerts is Paüls, in Baix Ebre: since January, the just over 500 inhabitants of this town (provided they were within the municipality's coverage) have received up to eight alerts. It should be noted that this was an area severely affected by the July fires and also by downpours at various times throughout the year. After Paüls, the municipality with the second most alerts was Cervera (affected by the Segarra fire last July), with four, followed by Girona, Artesa de Segre, and Tortosa, with three.
Controversies
Although it has only recently been in use, the ES-Alert system has not been without controversy. During the DANA (Denature Storm) that hit the Valencian Community in October 2024, the alert was sent when many people were already trapped by the downpours. The president of the Provincial Council, Vicente Mompó (PP), described the delay as "barbaric," while Cecopio technicians demanded that the alert be sent before 7 p.m. The Minister of Emergencies at the time, Salomé Pradas, admitted that she was unaware of the system's existence until that day.
In September 2023, another DANA (Denature Storm) threatened Spain. At 2:30 p.m., most people in the Community of Madrid received an alert with the same shrill sound, warning of potentially dangerous downpours and urging people to avoid travel. It was the first time that Civil Protection in this community decided to launch a warning of this nature.The alert caused astonishment because it had never been sent to Madrid. In fact, only three tests had been carried out in specific municipalities, and never in the large urban center. In the end, it didn't rain as heavily as expected. "If a public body warns of 'extreme danger,' it must be very sure, because that has social and economic consequences," stated the president of the Andalusian Regional Government, Juanma Moreno, from the People's Party (PP). "We must focus on what was avoided thanks to the alert," defended the also PP president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
During the major blackout in Catalonia, there were also sectors that called for a general alert about the situation. However, Civil Protection argued that the system is used to give orders in risky situations and They also had no guarantee that the alert would reach everyone due to the weakness of telecommunications at that time..