Similar to the situation making the headlines in the UK last week, although different because the system has been undergoing tests for many months in Spain, an emergency alert will be sent out to people across the Vega Baja area on Thursday of this week.

The Agency for Security and Response to Emergencies and the General Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior will carry out a test on Thursday by alerting residents in the municipalities of Vega Baja. This alert is a test. There is no need to panic, you just need to cancel the alert.

The ES-Alert system, which is integrated into the National Alert Network, uses Cell Broadcast technology to deliver messages to the mobile phones of users in a specific area. In this way, the people affected by the emergency will hear a high-pitched sound on their mobile that in turn displays a warning text. The sound only stops when the user of the terminal confirms its reading.

This Thursday’s test is part of the Vega Renhace Plan projects, so a notice will be sent to the population simulating a flood alert with instructions for action and self-protection that would minimise the risk in a real case. On this occasion, messages in Spanish and English will be transferred to the public.