The tests of Civil Protection alert system The mobile phones in Barcelona have been “a complete success”, In the words of the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena. After the first two drills – the first at ten in the morning in the northern part of the Barcelona area (Vallès Oriental, Maresme, Sant Adrià del Besòs, Badalona and Santa Coloma de Gramenet) and at eleven in the city of Barcelona – , About 90% of smartphone users have received the alert.
The objective of this drill, according to Elena, has been met. On the one hand, it was due check that the device works and, on the other, “communicate the existence of this system”. The ‘conseller’ stressed in his appearance before the media that this warning system will only be used to send “clear and exceptional messages”, and that it is not an information service. In Catalonia, already was used at the beginning of September to confine the citizens of Alcanar due to heavy flooding.
5 million citizens
In the four drills scheduled this Thursday, around five million citizens have been reached. In just the first two trials – Barcelona city and the northern part of the Barcelona area – three million devices had already been reached. Civil Protection also celebrates the results of the test and values this tool very positively. ““It can be very useful in a time of emergency and catastrophe.”
The scope of the system is also celebrated from the Interior. “Before we only reached a part of the population through the media, the leap is enormous,” explains the ‘counseller’, who has assured that we will continue working to reach 100% mobile phones.
Incidents and notifications
About 10% of users have not received the alert, according to data from telephone companies and the survey created by Civil Protection and the Ministry of the Interior. The reasons, they have advanced, can be several: being in an area with poor coverage, not being in the area at the time of the alert, having the phone in airplane mode or turned off or, the most common, not having the alert notification system activated.
All new generation mobile phones have this system activated by default, but on older devices You must access notifications and give permission so that these types of alerts can arrive. Elena has assured that, thanks to this drill, “many people who have not received the notice are now activating these notifications.”
500 calls to 112
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The ‘conseller’ has also thanked the schools, institutions, associations, companies and media for the important work to disseminate this alarm. As a result, he assured, the vast majority of citizens were already prepared. Of the three million people who have received the alert in the first two drills, only 500 have called 112. The same figure as in the Girona testalthough the population there is much smaller.
Finally, Civil Protection and the Ministry of the Interior wanted to remember the importance of taking the survey to know if the alert has been received or not. can be found on the internet with a simple search or on the Civil Protection social networks. The survey has already been carried out by more than 5,000 users and consists of two or three questions about whether the message has been received, what type of company is contracted and the characteristics of the device.