Because the EU isn't forcing Spain to do the right thing lol. Now seriously, in residential buildings there's no obligation, only recommendations, as per the l

Because the EU isn't forcing Spain to do the right thing lol. Now seriously, in residential buildings there's no obligation, only recommendations, as per the latest "regulations": NTP 215(1988) for smoke detectors, NTP 40 (1983) for fire detectors, and NTP 41 (1983) for fire alarms. [0] Industrial and office buildings are way more tightly regulated, though. Spain lags in that sense vs. most of Western Europe [1]. "Different building materials and building codes": I'd say that the heavy concrete-brick construction style in most urban housing limits the damage of fire. While anecdotal, I've seen a few fires in Spain, and generally they're mostly a scare and self contained to one or few units. "Cost": for smoke detectors the cost is very low, yet they're still relatively uncommon. Sprinklers are generally limited to office buildings. Sprinklers are very expensive though, especially for old buildings. "Business/politics": most of WE is ahead of Spain, so hardly US specific lobbying/awareness. "Rescue/fire suppression": not different from WE. Just install some smoke detector yourself for your unit. If you're renting ask the owner to ask in the next "comunidad de vecinos" to pool money to install them in common areas. You may even install them yourself in common areas: if they're concealed enough, nobody would care. [0] https://saludlaboralydiscapacidad.org/salud-laboral/gestion-de-la-prevencion/emergencias-y-primeros-auxilios/ntp-emergencias/ https://saludlaboralydiscapacidad.org/salud-laboral/gestion-... [1] https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/EU-fire-safety-guide https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/EU-fire-safety-guide