On Wednesday 29 May at 16:00, more than 200,000 people in Tarragona and the Terres de l’Ebre will hear the chemical risk sirens as part of a shelter-in-place drill organised by Catalan Civil Protection.
The exercise will show how people react to a possible industrial accident and check that the outdoor sirens work properly in many municipalities in the Camp de Tarragona and the Ebro area.
🔊 Lafcarr: behind many of these sirens… and their maintenance
For more than 20 years, Lafcarr has designed, manufactured, installed and maintained complete audible warning systems like those that will be activated during this drill.
In fact, many of the sirens that will sound on 29 May bear our name, and they are kept in good working order by the preventive and corrective maintenance we carry out regularly with Civil Protection.
Designed specifically for industrial settings, these sirens ensure that the alarm reaches people within seconds, even in noisy or complex environments.
Why is this drill being held?
Catalonia is one of the few regions with a real, tested chemical emergency plan (PLASEQTA and PLASEQCAT), which requires these systems to be activated regularly. In this case:
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Residents' response to sheltering in place will be assessed.
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55 sirens in 14 municipalities will be activated.
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Mobile alerts will be sent using ES-Alert technology.
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Chemical companies, emergency services and local authorities will take part.
✅ What to do if you live in one of the drill areas
If you live in one of the affected areas, you will hear a one-minute wailing siren signal, repeated twice. It is not a real emergency, but it is important that you know how to react:
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Go into your home or a building.
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Close doors and windows.
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Switch off ventilation or air conditioning.
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Do not go out until you hear the end-of-alert signal (a continuous tone).
📎Download the information leaflet HERE
Our commitment to safety
At Lafcarr we have spent years working with Civil Protection and other public bodies to install and maintain warning sirens in chemical and industrial risk areas. It is low-profile but essential work: making sure everything works at the right moment depends on a network of professionals and well-maintained systems.
On 29 May, while the sirens sound… we will be on hand too, as always.
📎 Original 3Cat report on the drill
