'Successful' chemical risk simulation drill carried out in Catalonia

Catalonia carried out on Wednesday a "successful" chemical risk drill in the areas of Tordera, Aran, Bages, Berguedà, Anoia, Selva and Girona.

Marta Cassany, general director of Civil Protection, explained after the drill that all 16 sirens sounded aptly and that only two calls were made to the 112 emergency services number in relation to the test.

The test was carried out in an area covering where around 40,000 people live. 

In addition, the simultaneous alert message sent to mobile phones were sent in the affected areas were "generally" received.

New this year was a direct link to a survey in the phone alert messages so people could notify that they received the alert.

More than 900 responded that they had received the message, double the number registered in the 2024 test in the same areas.

Cassany pointed out that prior work to inform the public of the drill was done well, owing to so few calls to 112 after this drill. She believes that citizens are increasingly aware of such activity, but she added, “the work of raising awareness should never be stopped” and that these types of campaigns should continue to be carried out “year after year.”

Drills help "stay calm"

During the test, a confinement exercise was carried out in ten schools, counting a total of 3,801 participants. One of these educational centres taking part was the Maristes school in Igualada.

At 10 am, the alerts arrived on mobile phones and immediately the chemical risk siren was heard from the school playground.

The 30 students from 2nd year of ESO were in the playground at the time the siren was heard, and went straight to the classroom to confine themselves at that moment.

One of the students, Ivan Díaz, believes that it is important to do these exercises to "know how to stay calm in the event of a real and dangerous situation," he told the Catalan News Agency.

"I think it should be done more often so that we are not afraid and know how to act," he added.

121 chemical risk sirens

The Civil Protection alarm system and communications network is made up of 121 operational chemical risk sirens.

Wednesday's drill is the first carried out in 2025.

The forecast is that two more will be held before the summer: one in Tarragona and the Ebro,on May 29, and another in Barcelona ​​on June 4.