Next Monday, October 19, the usual sounds of our streets will give way to a rare but vital wail. Starting at 10:00 a.m., Civil Protection will carry out an unprecedented exercise: the simultaneous activation of the 119 chemical hazard sirens located throughout Catalonia.
Nearly 930,000 residents in 47 municipalities will be at the epicenter of this large-scale test, which will last about 20 minutes and will also be heard in 13 other nearby towns. The drill will serve to test the readiness of the response teams and ensure that we all know how to act and protect ourselves if danger ever truly knocks on our door.
Your cell phone will alert you first
Before the sound fills the streets, residents’ phones will receive a direct message via the Es-Alert system. The Catalan Government and Civil Protection are asking residents to actively cooperate: the idea is that, upon receiving the alert and hearing the siren, we seek a safe place and stay indoors, just as we would in the event of an actual chemical accident.
Of the 121 sirens installed in Catalonia, 119 will break the silence during the drill. Barcelona leads the list with 53 operational devices (there are two more in the city that will not sound due to malfunctions and are currently being repaired), closely followed by Camp de Tarragona, which has 52. The rest of the region is sparsely distributed: Central Catalonia has five; Girona, four; Terres de l’Ebre, three; while the Penedès and the Alt Pirineu i Aran have one each. In Ponent, meanwhile, the drill will pass by unnoticed, as there are no such installations there.
To date, these types of drills have always been conducted by zone, but never covering the entire region at once. The underlying goal is to instill a habit among citizens that will save lives. As Civil Protection Director Marta Cassany emphasized, the goal is for anyone living near these areas to “clearly recognize the sound of the sirens and follow the basic self-protection guidelines in such cases—namely, taking shelter.”
Check the official street-by-street map
If you’re wondering whether the unmistakable alarm tone will reach your home or workplace, we’ve prepared a detailed breakdown by region. (You can insert the link here.) In this article, you can find the complete list of affected towns and the official interactive map from Civil Protection to check the exact coverage, street by street.
