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LIFE IN SPAIN

How Spain will warn you via SMS of nearby dangers 

On Wednesday February 22nd, the Spanish government officially activated a new mobile alert system that warns people in the country of nearby natural disasters or emergencies. Here's everything you need to know.

Published: 27 April 2022 15:20 CEST
Updated: 22 February 2023 10:47 CET
phone alert
Spanish government phone alert. Photo: Dean Moriarty / Pixabay

Spain’s General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies, which belongs to the Ministry of the Interior, proposed the new “system of warnings for the population” in early 2022.

The system then went through various testing stages across different regions in October and November 2022 and on Wednesday February 22nd, it was officially launched across the country. 

Through this new ES-Alert service, the Spanish government will be able to warn people of any catastrophes or other potentially dangerous incidents that occur near the area where they are.

It will allow for a “much faster and more effective” response to particularly serious situations that may have a direct impact on the population, according to a statement from Spain’s Interior Ministry.

This could include anything from a huge snowstorm such as Madrid’s 2021 Storm Filomena, to a volcanic eruption like the one which took place on the Canary island of La Palma.

How will it work?

The alerts will be sent automatically to all mobile phones in the affected area, a process known as reverse 112, and will be available in any part of the Spanish territory with mobile phone coverage, whether it’s 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G. It will be managed from all the emergency centres in each region, as well as in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

You must, however, have a modern smartphone for it to be compatible with the system, it won’t work with a very old phone.

What about tourists and foreigners in Spain?

The technology used means that it won’t only be those with registered Spanish mobile numbers who will receive the alerts; anyone with a mobile phone in a specific area will receive one if their phone is switched on and connected to the network, regardless of their foreign phone number.

The alerts will be in Spanish, as well as in English and any regional languages such as Catalan. 

What will happen when I receive a message?  

The messages will be accompanied by an alarm ringtone and vibration so that users will know when an important notification has arrived. The alarm will play constantly until you’ve read the message. The system will only work with two alert levels out of the three established by the current Civil Protection Protocol.

The Filomena storm and the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma were alert level two incidents. 

Leonardo Marcos, general director of Civil Protection in Spain, has defined this service as a “112 in reverse”. 

The alert system is part of the measures included in the Plan for Connectivity and Digital Infrastructures and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience. It is a result of the collaboration between the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and is financed by European recovery funds.

Es-Alert is integrated into the National Alert Network and is managed by the Interior Ministry through the National Emergency Monitoring and Coordination Center (CENEM) of the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies. 

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing a May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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