During the night of 5 November 2026, the Junta de Andalucía in the tunnel Cerro Lechón on AP-46 at Casabermeja (Málaga province) carried out a large-scale emergency exercise. According to the authority, the motorway was closed for the drill from around 00:00 to 03:30 and then gradually reopened to traffic following safety checks.
The scenario involved a road accident with an overturned tanker carrying 23,000 litres of sodium hypochlorite (12.5 per cent). Two cars were also involved: an electric vehicle and a combustion-engine vehicle. The exercise simulated a vehicle fire, a substance spill, nine people injured to varying degrees and one fatality. It focused on testing procedures for hazardous-materials accidents in a road tunnel, including alerting, incident assessment, rescue and techniques for containing a chemical spill.
The operation was coordinated through the central emergency and coordination centre CECEM 1-1-2. On site, those in charge set up a Puesto de Mando Avanzado (PMA) in the AP-46 control centre to test command and communications arrangements with the 112 control centre in Málaga. The Junta de Andalucía said the aim was to assess cooperation between the control centre, incident command and the services involved, as well as the application of relevant emergency plans.
According to the authorities, 19 organisations took part in the exercise, with 68 emergency personnel and 44 units of equipment. Those named included the Grupo de Emergencias de Andalucía, the Consorcio Provincial de Bomberos de Málaga, the 061 emergency medical service, the Guardia Civil, the Unidad de Policía Nacional Adscrita a Andalucía, the Policía Local de Málaga, Cruz Roja, environmental and roadworks units, as well as the Dirección General de Tráfico and the operating and road authorities. Traffic during the closure was diverted along alternative routes that had been announced in advance.
The Junta de Andalucía emphasises that such exercises are part of the regular review of self-protection and territorial emergency plans. They are intended to test procedures, improve coordination and identify potential shortcomings, strengthening the capacity to respond to real incidents involving dangerous goods in tunnels. The public notice did not set out specific findings or resulting improvements; according to the authorities, an internal review will follow.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).