The Spanish Ministry of Interior launched Alertcops, an app that makes communicating with the police easier to all citizens, in particular, to those with hearing and/or speech disabilities. This tool allows citizens to send geographically targeted text-based emergency alerts to the police using mobile phones. The app is also targeted to tourists and foreigners residing in Spain that speak little or no Spanish.

In order to use this app, which is available for the time being only in Madrid, Malaga and Alicante, users must select an icon that best describes the situation to be reported. Once the alert is sent, users can consult its status in My Alert section, which is updated periodically.

Alertcops is also available English. The Ministry of Interior plans to include other languages, such as French, German, Italian and Portuguese.

The app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store and the Apple Store. For more information, visit the Ministry of Interior website (information available only in Spanish).