ES-Alert in Catalonia due to the red alert for torrential rains

The ES-Alert system is the public warning mechanism of Civil Protection in Spain that sends mass messages to mobile phones located within a specific area when there is a serious emergency. It works through cell broadcast technology: telephone antennas broadcast the message to all terminals under their coverage, without needing to know phone numbers or collect personal data. The alert appears as a full-screen notification, with a very loud sound and vibration even if the phone is on silent.

How the ES-Alert sending process works

According to explanations from Civil Protection and analysis of various recent episodes, the process can be summarized in several linked phases:

• 1. Risk detection and assessment. The emergency is usually detected by specialized technical services (for example, AEMET at the state level or autonomous meteorological services like Meteocat in Catalonia), by fire departments, security forces, or by reports from the public. These organizations do not send the ES-Alert, but provide technical information about the risk (expected intensity, affected area, probability, evolution).
• 2. Evaluation by the Civil Protection authority. With that information, the competent Civil Protection authority analyzes whether there is an imminent danger to the population and if immediate instructions are necessary (shelter, evacuate, avoid travel, etc.). Official documentation and specialized press emphasize that ES-Alert warnings are reserved for serious situations: major floods, forest fires, chemical or industrial accidents, extreme weather phenomena, urgent evacuations, or other Civil Protection emergencies.
• 3. Formal decision and message drafting. When the emergency management concludes that the population must be warned, the autonomous coordination center proceeds to:
  • Define the geographical scope (affected municipalities or areas, which are then translated into telephone antennas/cells).
  • Set the text content: what is happening and, above all, what the population must do (shelter, avoid certain roads, stay away from watercourses, etc.).
  • Establish the temporal validity of the alert.
  The ES-Alert protocols themselves foresee that there is at least one authorized person who drafts the warning and another, also authorized, who validates and signs it before sending.
• 4. Technical sending through the ES-Alert system. Once validated, the message is entered into the ES-Alert platform integrated into the National Alert Network. From there it is transmitted to mobile operators, who broadcast it via cell broadcast to the antennas in the selected area. All compatible mobiles in that coverage area at that moment receive the alert almost simultaneously.
• 5. Reception and response. The population receives the alert with very noticeable sound and vibration. The goal is not so much to inform “what is happening” but to clearly indicate what to do to protect themselves: do not travel, go to higher floors, stay away from streams, close doors and windows, etc.

Which organizations can activate ES-Alert in Catalonia

The basic competence of ES-Alert is territorial and autonomous. Various explanations from Civil Protection and parliamentary resolutions have made clear that:

• In general, it is the autonomous communities, exercising their civil protection powers, that have the authority to activate ES-Alert in their territory, except in emergencies declared of national interest, in which case the Ministry of the Interior intervenes directly through the state Civil Protection.
• In Catalonia, operational competence lies with the Direcció General de Protecció Civil de la Generalitat, which manages the Centre de Coordinació Operativa de Catalunya (CECAT). Various notes and articles explain that:
  • Meteocat or other services issue technical warnings, but cannot send ES-Alert.
  • When it is considered necessary to warn the population, it is the CECAT, as the Civil Protection coordination center, that drafts and issues the ES-Alert for the affected area.
  • The emergency phone 112 Catalunya is integrated into this circuit, but the decision to use the system corresponds to the Civil Protection authority, not the call manager.
• In large-scale situations where a CECOPI (Integrated Operational Coordination Center) is established, emergency management is exercised in a coordinated manner between the Generalitat and the General State Administration. Even so, the issuance of ES-Alert in Catalonia is articulated through the autonomous Civil Protection bodies, unless it is an emergency formally assumed as of national interest.

In summary: the sending of an ES-Alert in Catalonia is decided and executed by the Civil Protection structure of the Generalitat —mainly the Direcció General de Protecció Civil through CECAT and 112—, relying on technical information from Meteocat and other services, and coordinated with the Ministry of the Interior when the severity of the emergency requires it.

The civil protection powers of the president of the Generalitat are based on three normative pillars: the 2006 Statute of Autonomy, the state Law 17/2015, of July 9, on the National Civil Protection System, and Law 4/1997, of May 20, on Civil Protection of Catalonia (Llei 4/1997, current Catalan version). From these it follows that the president is the highest political authority of the Catalan civil protection system, although the ordinary operational authority lies with the competent department (Governació/Interior) and the mayors.

1. General framework of competencies

The 2006 Statute attributes to the Generalitat competencies in public safety and civil protection, which includes:

• The organization of civil protection and emergency services in Catalonia.
• The approval of its own regulations and territorial and special plans.
• Coordination with the State and other autonomous communities.

Law 17/2015 establishes a National Civil Protection System where autonomous communities are responsible for managing emergencies in their territory, except when emergencies of national interest are declared (which are directed by the Ministry of the Interior). In this scheme, the Generalitat acts through its competent body, politically led by the president.

2. Prevention and planning

Based on Law 4/1997 on Civil Protection of Catalonia, the president exercises relevant functions in the phase prior to the emergency:

• Political leadership of Catalan civil protection: as head of the Government, sets the major civil protection policy lines, promotes the development of territorial and special plans, and approves, through the Executive Council, the regulatory norms proposed by the competent department.
• Promotion of planning: the Generalitat's civil protection plans (territorial and special) are developed by the competent department, reviewed by the Civil Protection Commission of Catalonia (regulated by Decree 291/1999), and submitted to the Government for approval. The president chairs the Government and therefore has the final decisive role in that approval.
• Promotion of preventive culture: Law 4/1997 details measures of foresight, information to the population, and promotion of self-protection; the president can politically prioritize campaigns, programs, and resources for these policies.

3. Declaration and direction of emergencies

Law 4/1997 identifies as civil protection authorities, on a day-to-day basis, the competent minister and the mayors. However, it expressly introduces the possible intervention of the president of the Generalitat in emergencies declared of “national interest” according to State legislation, by delegation.

From the combination of Catalan legislation with Law 17/2015, these specific powers arise:

• Declaration of autonomous emergency situations: at the highest levels of severity (large territorial impact, need to mobilize extraordinary autonomous resources), the decision to activate certain plans or phases may require Government agreement or decree; politically, the initiative and decision correspond to the president and the Executive Council.
• Assumption of political direction of the emergency: in the face of major emergencies, the president can position himself as the highest reference for direction and coordination, chairing the coordination center established and giving strategic instructions to the involved ministers.
• Approval of restrictive measures on rights and personal burdens: Law 4/1997 foresees that the civil protection authority may order evacuations, confinements, temporary use of goods and services, etc., always within legal limits. In serious emergencies, these orders are normally adopted by the competent minister, but under the political direction and ultimate responsibility of the president.

4. Relations with the State and other communities

Law 17/2015 establishes that:

• In emergencies of national interest, the declaration corresponds to the Minister of the Interior, but prior communication with the affected autonomous community is foreseen.
• The emergency coordination bodies of the communities are operationally integrated into the state center when the emergency is of national interest, maintaining their own structures.

Within this framework, the president of the Generalitat has powers of:

• Political interlocution with the State Government: to request additional state resources (for example, the Military Emergency Unit), to request or assess the declaration of emergency of national interest, and to coordinate decisions affecting Catalonia.
• Inter-autonomous cooperation: can promote cooperation agreements with other communities in civil protection matters (exchange of resources, mutual support, joint plans in border areas).

5. Extraordinary measures and limits

The president's powers in civil protection are limited by:

• The distribution of competencies Constitution–Statute–Law 17/2015: ordinary emergencies are autonomous competence; emergencies of national interest and states of alarm, exception, and siege are governed by state legislation.
• Respect for fundamental rights: restrictive measures must be proportional, necessary, and limited in time, as established by Law 4/1997 for the civil protection authority.

In summary, the president of the Generalitat is the highest political authority of the Catalan civil protection system: directs the planning and organization of the system, can assume political direction in serious emergencies, decides (together with the Government) on the activation of plans and major measures to adopt, and is the main interlocutor with the State and other communities when the emergency exceeds the strictly local or autonomous scope.

In Spain, early warning systems for adverse meteorological phenomena are supported by a set of state regulations that combine civil protection with the organization of the official meteorological service (AEMET). The legal core is in the Law 17/2015, of July 9, on the National Civil Protection System, complemented by Royal Decree 186/2008, of February 8, approving the Statute of the State Meteorological Agency, and by planning and strategy regulations in civil protection.

1. Law 17/2015, of July 9, on the National Civil Protection System

Law 17/2015 is the basic state regulation on civil protection emergencies and sets both the framework for prevention and for alert and information to the population against natural risks, including meteorological ones.

From the consulted excerpts of the law, several elements directly linked to alert systems stand out:

• Preventive approach: defines prevention as the set of measures aimed at avoiding or mitigating the adverse impacts of risks and emergency threats. Includes the obligation to carry out technical studies on the effects of certain activities on civil protection emergency risks.
• Information and alert programs in civil protection plans: the law requires that all civil protection plans (state, autonomous, local, and special) incorporate programs of preventive information and communication and alert, with the objective of:
  • Allowing citizens to adopt self-protection measures to safeguard people and property.
  • Facilitating rapid action by intervention services.
  • Ensuring prompt restoration of normality after the emergency.
  • Guaranteeing information reception by the most vulnerable groups and incorporating accessibility measures for people with disabilities.
• Awareness and education programs: public administrations must promote awareness and preventive education campaigns, and the law, after its latest update, requires a mandatory civil protection emergency training plan in all non-university educational centers, with specific content on emergencies caused by natural or anthropic causes.

1.1. National Civil Protection Alert Network

Law 17/2015 explicitly creates the National Civil Protection Alert Network, which is the central piece of the state emergency warning system:

• Defines it as a communication system for emergency warnings to competent civil protection authorities, so that essential public services and citizens are informed of any emergency threat.
• Its management corresponds to the Ministry of the Interior, through the National Center for Monitoring and Coordination of Civil Protection Emergencies.
• Obligation to communicate threats: all public administration bodies that may contribute to the detection, monitoring, and forecasting of threats (including AEMET) must immediately communicate to the National Center any situation that may lead to a civil protection emergency.
• The emergency coordination bodies of the autonomous communities act as channels for transmitting the alert to the appropriate parties, articulating the downward transmission of warnings at the territorial level.

The law also refers to a Basic Civil Protection Standard, approved by royal decree, which sets guidelines for risk identification and minimum content of plans, where more specific warning protocols for risks such as floods, storms, etc., are framed.

2. AEMET Statute: Royal Decree 186/2008

Royal Decree 186/2008, of February 8, approves the Statute of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET). From the analyzed passages it follows that:

• AEMET is the State meteorological authority and manages the public meteorological and climatological service.
• One of its primary functions is to provide information and services that allow governments and other actors to minimize the costs of natural disasters, through preventive actions against adverse meteorological phenomena and mitigation of their effects.
• Operates the observation, telecommunications, prediction, and data archiving and processing systems on which meteorological and climatological products depend, the technical basis of warnings.
• Its role is emphasized in areas linked to the safety of people and property, support for national defense, civil protection, and maritime and air traffic, fitting with the obligation to communicate threats to the National Civil Protection Alert Network.

Although the royal decree focuses on AEMET's internal organization, governance, human resources, and economic regime, its preamble and structure imply that official warnings of adverse meteorological phenomena are an essential part of the public service the Agency provides to the entire National Civil Protection System.

3. Complementary planning and strategy regulations

Besides these two core regulations, the early warning system relies on other planning and strategy instruments published in the BOE, among which stand out:

• The National Civil Protection Strategy, initially published by Order PCI/488/2019, and updated by Order PJC/1430/2024, which develops the strategic framework on risks, including the improvement of information and alert systems.
• The state plans and basic guidelines for specific risks, such as the State Civil Protection Plan against flood risk (Resolution of August 2, 2011) and the Basic Civil Protection Planning Guideline against Flood Risk (Resolution of January 31, 1995), which contain specific warning protocols and thresholds for that type of phenomena.

Altogether, this regulation configures a system in which AEMET generates official meteorological information and warnings, and civil protection (through Law 17/2015, the National Alert Network, and civil protection plans) organizes their orderly dissemination to authorities, essential services, and the population.