In the holiday hotspots of the Costa del Sol, the risk of tsunamis is rarely discussed. But in Chipiona, near Cádiz, the possibility is not whispered but signposted. The low-key seaside town became Spain’s first ‘tsunami ready’ community in 2024, recognised by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Evacuation routes are marked, sirens are installed, and each November schoolchildren walk designated routes inland in a town-wide drill, marking the hour of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Mayor Luis Mario Aparcero Fernández says other mayors were initially reluctant to discuss tsunamis for fear of harming tourism, but he convinced them that greater safety could attract more visitors.
The Alborán Sea fault system, which fractures the seabed between Spain and north Africa, generates routine earthquakes. In December, a 4.9 magnitude tremor off Fuengirola triggered over 40 calls to emergency services. While no damage was done, scientists describe southern Spain as a place of ‘continuous seismicity’ where energy accumulates over centuries.
Chipiona assumes citizens will have roughly an hour after an earthquake before a tsunami arrives. Meeting points are within a 20-minute walk, and the instruction is simple: do not drive. Last year, Cádiz staged Spain’s largest tsunami drill with over 20,000 participants, simulating a Lisbon-scale earthquake and testing evacuation timing.
Francisco Castro, Chipiona’s tsunami-ready coordinator, stresses that certification does not mean there is no risk. ‘What we are doing here is no different to hotels preparing guests with fire drills,’ he says. The goal is to establish 25 tsunami-ready communities in the region by the end of this year and prepare all at-risk communities by 2030.
