Canary Islands authorities will test ES-Alert in Tenerife on Thursday during the VOLCANEX Tenerife 2026 volcanic-risk exercise. Three messages will go out between 9am and 2pm; residents do not need to act on them.
The first alert will announce a simulated move to orange volcanic status under PEVOLCA, the Canary Islands’ civil-protection and emergency plan for volcanic risk. It does not signal an eruption. Tenerife residents do not need to evacuate, confine themselves or take any other action.
The test takes place on Thursday, 22 October, as part of VOLCANEX Tenerife 2026, a volcanic-risk exercise organised by the Cabildo de Tenerife in Guía de Isora. The Dirección General de Emergencias will send the alerts through the Centro Coordinador de Emergencias y Seguridad (CECOES) 112 between 9:00 and 14:00. VOLCANEX will test coordination across municipal, island and regional services, as well as how civil-protection plans work together in practice.
The first message is aimed at Tenerife. It could also reach parts of Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, along with inter-island sea channels. Receiving a message outside its intended area does not mean the recipient is affected by the exercise. ES-Alert uses mobile networks, so coverage may extend beyond the boundaries set for the exercise.
A second alert will cover Guía de Isora and Santiago del Teide, and describe a simulated preventive evacuation limited to Chirche and Aripe. It may also reach Adeje, Los Silos, Buenavista del Norte and El Tanque, as well as some sectors of La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro and nearby sea channels. The third message will announce the end of the exercise.
Alerts may arrive when they are sent or when a phone enters its operator’s coverage area. Phones switched off or in airplane mode will not receive them. Devices with 4G or 5G coverage in the target area should display the word “PRUEBA” with a sound and vibration. Users do not need to reply or call 112.
Drivers should pull over somewhere safe before reading the alert. The Gobierno de Canarias also advises explaining the test in advance to older relatives who might be alarmed. The message may appear in English if a phone is set to a language other than Spanish.
Most mobile phones with data connectivity can receive civil-protection alerts if reception is enabled. The setting is on by default on Android 11 or later and iOS 15.6 or later. Guidance for other versions is available through the 112 Canarias website. ES-Alert is already operational in the Canary Islands and has been used during recent forest fires on La Palma and Tenerife.
VOLCANEX models the phase before an eruption, when volcanic activity rises in the southwest of Tenerife. Organisers describe it as the largest volcanic-risk drill in Spain and the second of its kind on the island, after the EU MODEX exercise in Garachico in September 2025, which simulated an eruption. The new scenario focuses on the earlier crisis phase and preparations for preventive measures.
The Cabildo’s stated central objective is to assess interoperability among security and emergency teams in the field. The drill will test mobile-alert delivery alongside coordination among local, island and regional authorities, including the simulated evacuation of Chirche and Aripe.
