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Catalonia prepares for emergencies: the Interior Department promotes a campaign inviting every household to put together its own ‘72-hour kit’
The Minister for the Interior and Public Security, Núria Parlon, has presented a campaign seeking to change habits and mindsets: for citizens to stop relying solely on the institutional response and start organising themselves for the first moments of an emergency. And the key tool is as simple as it is decisive: a basic household survival kit.
The initiative comes after a year that has reminded us of the fragility of day-to-day life. Floods, fires and, above all, the mass blackout on 28 April revealed how dependent we are on technology and how little prepared we are when the essentials fail. According to Parlon, the campaign aims for «each person to understand that their safety begins at home» and that the first step to reducing the impact of a crisis is to have the bare minimum needed to get through 72 hours without outside help, as recommended by the European Union and international civil protection bodies.
The suggested kit brings together such basic items as documents protected in a waterproof bag, cash, a battery-powered radio, a torch, regular medication, water and long-lasting food. It also includes items adapted for older people, babies or pets. And in the event of evacuation, a change of clothes and a small hygiene kit.
The campaign will be disseminated through educational videos, clear visual materials and actions aimed at specific audiences. All with an educational purpose: for preparing the kit to be an exercise in awareness, not a formality.
Interior stresses that this is not about encouraging fear, but about strengthening the resilience of Catalan society in a context where extreme weather events and technological disruptions are no longer exceptions. All detailed information is available at interior.gencat.cat/preparat-emergencies, where guidelines are set out so that self-protection becomes a habit rather than a wish.