DANA’s warning message came late, but it looks like we’re learning our lesson. Since the Valencia tragedy, the Civil Protection system has been activated many times to warn the public in risk areas due to heavy rains.

Spain is quickly becoming familiar with ES-Alert, but the truth is that this system has only been around for a year. it becomes calf The first litmus test of warnings and we see that the public continues to have many doubts about the functioning of this system.

The Civil Protection alert system is a beep that lasts for a few seconds and automatically reaches all mobile phones in a certain area.

ES-Alert system comes by default (and cannot be disabled)

The ES-Alert system was officially activated in Spain on February 22, 2023. Various pilot tests and simulations have been carried out since then, but it is now being used on a large scale to inform the population with DANA. However, the technology for these wireless emergency alerts has previously been integrated into mobile phones.

All Phones have alerts enabled by default From at least the following versions of Civil Protection:

• Android 11 or above
• iOS 15.6 or above

So, except for old and outdated phones, you will receive emergency alerts by default. According to Civil Protection, mobile phones with Android 8 or older do not receive alerts, and mobile phones with Android 10 or older do not display the title correctly. It has been welcomed normally since Android 11, which was released in September 2020.

In the Android and iOS settings there is an option to allow these alerts and we can also uncheck this option. But we need to understand how the ES-Alert system works and why we will continue to receive alerts no matter how many times we uncheck it. As confirmed by Civil Protection: ES-Alert system alerts cannot be disabled.

Then why does the disable option appear? This is because wireless emergency alerts can have up to three levels. Unchecking the option is for level 2 and 3. Level 1 alerts are received by default regardless of what is flagged.

Civil Protection alerts are therefore:

• Civil Protection alert level 1: Imminent emergency. It is enabled by default without being able to be disabled. Used by ES-Alert.
• Civil Protection alert level 2: advisory and Pre-Warning for risk situations. It is not enabled by default and can be disabled. Not currently in use in Spain.
• Civil Protection alert level 3: Notification for citizen assistance in cases such as abduction of minors. It is not enabled by default and can be disabled. Not currently in use in Spain.

Well, The settings to enable/disable alerts are for level 2 (Pre-Alerts), which is not currently available in Spain..

Warning systems are therefore no need for manual configuration by user. These alerts will continue to be received even if the phone is on silent or in do not disturb mode.

Unusual but shouldn’t surprise us

At the time these lines were written, various warnings about heavy rain had been received in the Barcelona region. The message, similar to those sent in other regions, explains that extreme caution should be exercised for the next three hours.

From mobile settings It is possible to see the history of emergency alerts we have received. On Android we can access Security and Emergencies > Wireless emergency alerts > Emergency alert history. When we click, we will see both the message and the time we received it. In my case, we received two alerts with a time difference of about 40 minutes.

Get an alert should not be seen as something exceptional. In countries such as Japan or the United States, it is common to have wireless alerts on your mobile phone, from earthquake warnings to tornado warnings, but also to warn of military maneuvers, chemical spills, and even kidnappings and police operations.

Civil Protection explains that receiving these warning messages “will be a rare occurrence” but that when we do receive them “we should pay attention immediately”. The exceptional situation we are experiencing these days has caused many citizens to receive these warnings for the first time.

in Xataka | The DANA alert you receive on your mobile phone is not an SMS and does not use your number: this is how the ES-Alert emergency system works