On Tuesday, at ten past eight in the afternoon, all the people who were in the province of Valencia received a alert on their cell phone faced with the danger of DANA, an unprecedented episode which cost the lives of around a hundred people.
It was the first time that this technological system was activated in the Valencian Community thanks to a real case. A loud beep sounds simultaneously from all terminals, whether silent or not.
The message was clear: “Protection alert due to heavy rains and as a preventative measure, any type of travel within the province should be avoided. »
This alert, which shocked the population, came too late for some, because water had already entered many cities by force and many citizens received the message when they no longer had any room for maneuver.
The warning was repeated last Wednesday 7:00 a.m. and this Thursday at 12:15 p.m. to ask the population to avoid travel.
Faced with criticism, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazonexplained that the system is “protocolized and standardized” and maintained that it was “coordinated” by the General Directorate of Civil Protection of the Spanish government. From the Ministry of the Interior, for their part, they affirmed that responsibility lies with the Regional Executive.
The alert sent due to DANA in the Valencian Community
In this context, many people wonder how this so-called “reverse 112” system works and whose objective is to warn of imminent emergency situations.
The tool It was launched in 2022 The result of a collaboration between the Ministries of the Interior and the Ministries of the Economy and Digital Transformation, it is financed by European recovery funds.
This is the Spanish variant of the EU-Alert protocol and constitutes a European mandate. Code 110 of European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) establishes that member countries must have a system with these characteristics in order to be able to send geolocated alerts to the mobile phones of all users affected by a disaster.
How does it work?
The ES-Alert system is based on technology Cell broadcast for broadcasting alerts to the population via mobile phones.
It allows mass sending, by radio broadcast and without taking into account the number, to all phones present in an area, including foreign visitors, without the need to register or download any specific application .
Cell Broadcast is a technology used by carriers to simultaneously send text messages (SMS) to multiple users in a predetermined area.
It also allows alerts to arrive in very few seconds, because it occupies very little bandwidth, and is automatic for all devices connected to the antennas in the risk area.
It works with all operators, with 4G and 5G technologies, which cover more than 90% of Spanish territory. Additionally, it cannot be disabled. The combination of sound, vibration and on-screen message ensures user attention, even if the phone is silent, locked or in Do Not Disturb mode.
Paiporta (Valencia) this Wednesday after the heavy flooding
One of the most frequently asked questions about this system is whether it accesses any type of user information. This was one of the criticisms addressed to the government of Community of Madrid when he used the tool, given the risk of flooding in September 2023.
However, no geolocated mobile phone lists are used and user privacy is not violated.
Emergency response centers thus have access to the information system, which allows defining alert settings that you want to send. This concerns the type of risk, the event observed or expected, the area concerned, the duration of validity and the message to be conveyed to citizens.
Once validated, the alert is sent to the systems located at the mobile telephone operators responsible for activating the sending of the message to the network cells located in the area. The telephones located in these cells receive the message directlywithout the need to establish a particular connection.
The alert will be displayed on the mobile phone as a text message, occupying the entire width of the screen. Almost all modern phones come preconfigured with the ability to receive Cell Broadcast messages.
Who activates it?
The responsibility for Civil Protection and sending these messages lies with the autonomous communities, although the service has been established by the Central Government and to activate it it must be communicated to the Interior.
The system, according to Civil Protection, is available to regional emergency coordination centers within the framework of the National Civil Protection System.
These centers, together with the National Center for Monitoring and Coordination of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of the Interior, are responsible, within their area of competence, for defining and issuing alerts when the situation requires it.
