Large-scale alert system drill on the Andalusian coast
The morning of November 20 in Cádiz began with an unusual event: precisely at 10:14 a.m. local time, thousands of residents and visitors heard an emergency alert on their mobile devices. This was not a real emergency but part of the largest tsunami response drill ever held in Spain. The ES-Alert warning covered the entire coastal area from Sanlúcar de Barrameda to San Roque, allowing authorities to assess the readiness of both the public and emergency services for a possible crisis.
Emergency drill: scenario and participant actions
The exercise scenario simulated a hypothetical earthquake similar to the catastrophic 1755 Lisbon event. After the simulated warning, organized evacuations began at predetermined locations—from schools in Cádiz’s historic center to government buildings, port companies, hotels, and a senior center. People were ushered out horizontally into safe zones and vertically to higher floors—starting from the fourth—where experts believe water would not reach, even in a severe tsunami.
Rescue operation: from the museum to the beach
The drills involved not only residents and institution staff but also emergency services. At the Museo de Cádiz, participants practiced the transportation of valuable exhibits and archaeological finds. On Santa María del Mar beach, there was a simulated rescue of victims, while in the Zona Franca industrial area, specialists assessed the consequences of a hypothetical building collapse. Additional evacuation procedures and emergency aid exercises took place at the dock in El Puerto de Santa María.
Response time and scale of the drills
The main objective was to test how quickly people could be alerted and evacuated before the arrival of the first wave. According to estimates, a maximum of one hour was allocated for the entire process—the time experts believe coastal residents have after receiving an alert. Around 20,000 people took part in the exercise, allowing authorities to evaluate the effectiveness of the ES-Alert system and the readiness of emergency services to act in a real threat scenario.
