The church bells of the Pi ring one after another at eleven in the morning, and one looks around, left and right, turning one's head at full speed, waiting for the irruption of the unexpected, of the never seen, a moment of... where the hell is that test from the Generalitat to evaluate the alarm system of the regions of Barcelona? Didn't they say that we would all receive a strident message on our smartphones at the same time? Just like in war movies!
Well, here in the heart of the Rambla the church bells finish ringing and nothing happens: men of advanced age and retirement continue exchanging impressions sitting on the benches along the promenade, residents of the city walk with determined and hurried steps towards the Catalunya metro station, tourists photograph facades with their devices, take selfies everywhere...
The truth is that if you want another person to stop doing what they are doing, all you have to do is send them a WhatsApp message. Even if you apparently continue looking at the computer screen in the office, listening to your interlocutor in a cafeteria or ironing in front of the television at home, your attention will leave with your fingers and crawl along with them until you find the mobile phone in question. The anxiety caused by one of those unattended piticlíns is unbearable. Then you, as an analogue person, have to say things with your mouth at least three times to get attention, but if you type them... A Civil Protection alarm has to stop the world.
Then, suddenly – it couldn't be otherwise, these things always happen suddenly –, after the bells had fallen silent, the world stopped, for an instant, for a second, and a disturbing wail of sirens of uncertain origin sounded. here, it rang there, it rang everywhere... And it takes a few moments for the retirees to realize that the hoot is coming from their pockets, the tourists stop taking snapshots with their phones and look at them circumspectly, the neighbors of the surroundings slow down their pace and exclaim what the hell...
“Oh, how scary,” says a young woman from the city, with a smile, “and look, I knew it, half an hour ago I saw the advertisement on the bus shelter, but then I forgot, what nonsense!” “Ha, ha, ha,” some Italian visitors laugh, “it's proof! –one jokingly says to another, somewhat surprised– it's nothing more than proof of something!” "Oh ok...". Other visitors show their devices to the saleswoman at an ice cream stand. “It's a test,” the employee confirms. "A test? proof of what? And for what?". “Well, in case something horrible happens, right? so that people know.” “And I have to do something?” says a retiree. “They don't stop sending nonsense to the phone. I don't look at anything, and then they charge you!”
Yes, the world stopped this Thursday morning, in the office, at home, in the cafeteria, on the Rambla. The messages also arrived in a staggered manner to the municipalities of the Vallès, Maresme, Barcelonès Nord, Baix Llobregat regions... Nearly 90% of the province's citizens received this alert.
The Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, said that the drill was a complete success. The idea is not to provide information on services every now and then, but to have means to contact the population if it is really necessary. So it was. And people stopped doing what they were doing, paying attention to their computer screen, listening to what their interlocutor was telling them, ironing in front of the television... for a moment, for an instant, and then, immediately, Well everything continued the same.
