Visitors and residents in the Canary Islands in Spain have been issued an alert that an island-wide emergency test is scheduled.
The Canary Islands Government announced this important emergency drill will take place in Tenerife on October 24.
The alert will affect all those with a mobile phone on the island including tourists and residents.
The important drill is led by Turismo de Canarians further advising all those on the island to be aware of what is going on and to stay informed on procedures.
The aim of this emergency drill is to test the island’s alert system for future disasters. However, officials reassured the public that the drill is in fact just a test and not a warning about a real issue.
The drill is simply a test of the island’s Es-Alert emergency notification system.
The system is designed to be used in the event of emergencies or disasters including the risk of potential floods, severe weather events or even volcanic eruptions.
Testing of these emergency drills allows the Gran Canaria government to provide citizens in the region with vital safety instructions if an extreme situation occurs.
The ES-Alert system has been tested in other Canary Islands before including La Palma, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro and La Gomera.
As part of this drill, mobile phones will all receive an emergency alert between the times of 10 am and 12 pm on October 24.
This alert is set to appear on a person’s mobile screen with a loud alert that will only stop once a person presses “ACCEPT” on the screen.
For those concerned about language barriers of this loud alert, any phone that is set to a language other than Spanish will receive the notification in English.
This is not the first time an alert test like this has been issued.
It’s also part of a broader effort to help improve emergency preparedness for the island and to ensure that both tourists and the local population can get information quickly in the event of a real emergency situation.
The feature will run on Android version 11 or higher, or iOS version 15.6 or higher and is activated by default.
“It is important that people who are driving do not become alarmed and stop the vehicle in a safe place to read the emergency message and press accept,” noted the government.
“In the case of elderly relatives, it is advisable to explain to them what this alert system consists of to avoid alarming them.”