Emergency kit: what the EU and Spain recommend

The EU does want households to manage on their own for at least 72 hours. The recommendation is addressed to governments, it is not a law, and we found no EU or Spanish national list with quantities. What exists is short: read it before building a “survival kit”.

The EU asks governments to help households manage 72 hours

First came the EU Preparedness Union Strategy, a joint communication from the European Commission and the High Representative dated 26 March 2025. Its chapter on population preparedness says: “The Commission will propose guidelines for Member States to reach population self-sufficiency of at least 72 hours.” That is a task for the Commission, not for you, and the chapter names no food, no water and no items.

The Commission’s Guidelines on Population Preparedness, dated 30 October 2026, were presented on 3 November 2026 by Commissioner Hadja Lahbib at the European Civil Protection Forum. The text calls itself non-binding and says it is meant to encourage Member States to develop their own preparedness initiatives. Its 72-hour section is written for civil protection authorities, and the guideline reads: “Help households meet essential needs for at least 72 hours. Encourage emergency plans, evacuation bags and practical skills, such as first aid.”

The closest thing to a list sits in a working document

The guidelines name food, water, medicines, communication and cash as essential needs, and cooking without electricity as a skill, but list no items. The list is in an accompanying staff working document, also non-binding and written for Member States. Under essential items it names:

• food, described as “that can be stored at room temperature, requires no heating, no or little water to prepare, and can be readily eaten without any or only simple preparation”
• stored water for drinking, basic cooking and hygiene
• alternative heating or cooling, and lighting
• medicines and first aid equipment
• hygiene and sanitation supplies
• a way to receive information, such as a battery radio and charged power banks
• cash in small notes and coins, and an offline way to pay where available

It adds pets, a household plan, a grab-and-go bag and first aid. It gives no litres, no calories and no number of meals, and says: “The emphasis should be on encouraging action rather than on the specific timeframe itself.”

The Commission has also proposed an annual EU Preparedness Day on 23 October, from 2027. For now it is a proposal.

Spain’s template keeps it short

The only national kit list we found is in a family emergency plan template from Spain’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies. Its box is headed “KIT BÁSICO DE EMERGENCIAS (72 horas)” (our rendering: basic emergency kit, 72 hours) and lists seven things: a portable charger, a torch, a radio, batteries, bottled water, non-perishable food and your usual medicines. No quantities, and it is framed as what a family may need if it has to stay away from home for several days.

Catalonia’s civil protection page goes further: a water figure (below) and, if you are staying at home, long-life food that needs no cooking, plus first aid, a torch, a radio, documents, cash and a phone charger. The Comunidad de Madrid lists 14 items starting with water and quick-to-eat food, with no litres and no number of days.

Water figures come from countries and regions

Neither EU text gives a water figure, and we found no Spanish national source that does. Those that exist differ:

• Catalonia: at least 1.5 litres of drinking water per person per day.
• Germany: the BBK says an adult needs at least 1.5 litres of fluid a day, plus half a litre a day for cooking.
• Sweden: Krisinformation.se asks for at least three to five litres per person per day.
• France: the government guide’s 72-hour checklist asks for six litres of bottled water per person for the whole kit.

Food that needs water is one part of the plan

The EU, Catalan, Swedish and French texts favour food that needs no cooking; the EU and Swedish ones also want little water. Our pouches need water, so they are not that kind of food. Every pouch in our 72-Hour Food Reserve has a cold-water preparation, so you don’t need a kettle. The water each pouch needs is printed on it and listed on the box’s page; count it on top of your drinking water.

Our box provides breakfasts and mains towards one person’s three days; the radio, torch, medicines, cash and the plan stay on your list. Our guide to planning food for a 72-hour kit and what to keep at home for a blackout take it from there.

The blackout showed what people missed

On 28 April 2025 at 12:33, continental Spain and Portugal lost power, according to ENTSO-E. By 07:00 next day, 99.95 % of mainland Spain’s demand was back, Spain’s competition and markets regulator, the CNMC, told Congress.

In a CIS telephone survey on 29 and 30 April, 41.6 % said they had missed something at home. Of those who missed something, 34.9 % named a non-electric way to cook, 7.3 % water and 5.4 % food that needed no cooking. 34.3 % said they already had a kit of this kind at home before the blackout.

The numbers

See what is in the 72-Hour Food Reserve

Sources

• European Commission and High Representative, EU Preparedness Union Strategy, JOIN(2025) 130
• European Commission, Guidelines on Population Preparedness, C(2026) 8250
• European Commission, staff working document SWD(2026) 826
• European Commission, DG ECHO news, 3 November 2026
• Dirección General de Protección Civil y Emergencias, Plan Familiar de Emergencias
• Generalitat de Catalunya, Protecció Civil, Kit d’emergències
• Comunidad de Madrid, ASEM 112, Kit de emergencias
• BBK, Essen und Trinken bevorraten
• Krisinformation.se, Home preparedness
• French government, Tous responsables
• ENTSO-E, 28 April 2025 Iberian blackout
• CNMC, statement to the Congress of Deputies, 13 May 2025
• CIS, study 3513

Accessed 6 November 2026.