On Wednesday evening, residents of coastal and nearby areas in Catalonia were startled by a loud alert on their mobile devices. Many were caught off guard: the streets were quiet, the sky was clear, yet their screens displayed a warning about incoming heavy rainfall. Unsurprisingly, some people felt anxious and confused—there was no rain at that moment.
The reason for such an early warning lies in how the Es Alert mass emergency notification system, introduced in the region in 2023, operates. Civil protection experts decided to notify the public in advance so people could prepare for possible emergencies before leaving their homes in the morning. This approach helps minimize risks and prevent panic if weather conditions deteriorate suddenly overnight or early in the morning.
The message advised residents to exercise extra caution, avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from riverbeds and gullies, and keep up with weather and road updates. Even if a specific area saw no rain, the risk of flooding remained—water could rise quickly from neighboring zones.
Es Alert technology and limitations
The Es Alert system operates via mobile networks: the signal is sent to all phones within the coverage area of selected antennas. In the year since its launch in Catalonia, more than a hundred such alerts have been sent, most of them related to fires and flood threats. About a third of the alerts were sent as part of test runs.
The technology is still being improved. At the moment, specialists can select the alert radius, but accuracy is not perfect yet—sometimes people outside the immediate danger area receive the signal as well. In the future, messages are expected to become less loud and more targeted, so as not to startle people unnecessarily.
There are also technical details: the text must be as concise as possible, without complex symbols or unnecessary capital letters, otherwise some devices may display it incorrectly. In addition, it’s not yet possible to adjust the alert volume—it always sounds equally sharp, which is especially noticeable at night.
Why these alerts are needed
The main purpose of these alerts is to give people time to prepare for a potential threat. Even if nothing is happening at the moment the signal is received, the situation can change within a few hours. Thanks to early warnings, residents can adjust their plans, avoid dangerous routes, and take steps to ensure their safety.
The authorities of Catalonia continue to work on improving the system to make it more accurate and user-friendly. In the coming years, new features are expected to be introduced that will not only provide advance warnings about risks, but also help reduce anxiety among the population.
