Navtex OnlineNAVTEX in Spain and the Balearics
Two Spanish NAVTEX stations cover the Mediterranean coast: Cabo la Nao, between Valencia and Alicante, and Tarifa, on the Strait of Gibraltar. The Spanish warnings are published by Salvamento Marítimo.
Each station has an English service on 518 kHz and a Spanish one on 490 kHz.
Stations and broadcast times (UTC)
| Station | Letter | Frequency | Language | Range | Broadcast times (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabo la Nao | X | 518 kHz | English | 220 nm | 03:50, 07:50, 11:50, 15:50, 19:50, 23:50 |
| Cabo la Nao | M | 490 kHz | Spanish | 220 nm | 02:00, 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00, 22:00 |
| Tarifa | G | 518 kHz | English | 300 nm | 01:00, 05:00, 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00 |
| Tarifa | T | 490 kHz | Spanish | 300 nm | 03:10, 07:10, 11:10, 15:10, 19:10, 23:10 |
Each slot is a 10-minute window, repeated every 4 hours. Urgent messages can go out at any time. Range is the designed range in nautical miles.
Which station for which waters
- Balearic Islands, the Valencian coast and the Costa Blanca: Cabo la Nao.
- Catalonia: Cabo la Nao; towards the French border also CROSS La Garde (France).
- Murcia and Almería: both stations.
- Costa del Sol, the Alboran Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar: Tarifa.
For Spain's Atlantic coast, see NAVTEX on the Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal and the Canary Islands.
Latest messages from these stations
- Navigational warning from Cabo la Nao XA32 · 10 Nov 23:50 UTC
- Weather forecast from Tarifa GE38 · 10 Nov 21:02 UTC
- Meteorological warning from Tarifa GB23 · 10 Nov 20:21 UTC
- Weather forecast from Cabo la Nao XE86 · 10 Nov 19:54 UTC
- Meteorological warning from Cabo la Nao XB75 · 10 Nov 19:52 UTC
- Weather forecast from Cabo la Nao XE85 · 10 Nov 07:50 UTC
- Navigational warning from Cabo la Nao XA78 · 10 Nov 03:50 UTC
- Navigational warning from Cabo la Nao XA70 · 9 Nov 23:50 UTC
- Weather forecast from Tarifa GE36 · 9 Nov 21:00 UTC
- Weather forecast from Cabo la Nao XE84 · 9 Nov 19:50 UTC
Few or no messages from Cabo la Nao M and Tarifa T have reached us in the last week, so their pages may be empty.
What the messages contain
- Navigational warnings (subject
A): military exercises and firing practice, unlit or missing buoys and lights, wrecks, underwater work, cable laying, search areas. - Meteorological warnings (
B): gale and storm warnings. - Weather forecasts (
E). - Search and rescue (
D): distress relays and requests to keep a lookout.
Every message starts with ZCZC, the station letter, the subject letter and a serial number, and ends with NNNN. How to read a NAVTEX message
Reading the messages online
Navtex Online shows the messages received from these stations, each with the original text and a readable version with the abbreviations written out. They come from receivers that publish what they hear and from official lists of warnings; see data sources.
Official sources for this region:
Not for navigation. Reception on land can be incomplete or garbled, and a message can be missing. This site does not replace a NAVTEX receiver on board or the official broadcasts.
Questions
What frequency is NAVTEX in Spain and the Balearics?
518 kHz: Cabo la Nao X and Tarifa G (English). 490 kHz: Cabo la Nao M and Tarifa T (Spanish). Most receivers can listen to 518 kHz and 490 kHz at the same time.
When are the weather forecasts sent?
Weather forecasts (subject E) go out at least twice a day, in each station's own time slots in the table above. The latest forecasts received are on each station's page.
Can I read these messages without a receiver?
Ashore, yes: the messages received from these stations are on this page and on each station's page, for planning. At sea, carry a NAVTEX receiver: internet access is not reliable offshore, and an online copy can be late or incomplete.
More: NAVAREA III (Mediterranean and Black Sea) · Other regions · What is NAVTEX · Station map