(Photo: © FEEDA)
September 2026
José Carlos Frechilla Fernández, director of the Spanish Elevator Association, Federacion Empresarial Espanola de Ascensores (FEEDA), wrote an article for LIFTjournal that provides interesting insights into the Spanish market.
"Our sector is currently undergoing one of the most significant regulatory, technological and business transformations of recent decades", says José Carlos Frechilla Fernández.
The latest Statistical Report published by FEEDA highlights the sector’s strength. In 2025, industry turnover reached €3.611 billion, representing a 3.54 per cent increase over the previous year. Spain has more than 1.163 million elevators in service—the largest installed elevator fleet in Europe—along with nearly 19,000 escalators and moving walks.
The industry employs more than 20,700 professionals, while after-sales services continue to represent its main source of revenue. Indeed, the scale of Spain’s installed base of more than 1.1 million elevators makes the country a European benchmark, but also entails considerable responsibility.
Against this backdrop, the implementation of Royal Decree 355/2024 arguably represents the most significant regulatory change the sector has experienced in decades. The new ITC AEM 1 introduces an updated regulatory framework aimed at enhancing both passenger safety and the safety of maintenance professionals, while also promoting the progressive modernisation of the existing elevator fleet.
Although its overall implementation has been positive, the new regulation has required a significant adaptation effort from all stakeholders involved. At FEEDA, we are working closely with the Ministry of Industry, the regional authorities, inspection bodies and the rest of the sector to ensure a consistent application of the regulation and to provide technical solutions to the issues that arise during its implementation.
Alongside this regulatory change, the industry is also adapting to another major technical development: the gradual adoption of the new international standards ISO 8100-1 and ISO 8100-2, which replace the well-established EN 81-20 and EN 81-50 standards as the harmonised standards for elevator design and manufacturing. This represents a further step towards the international harmonisation of technical requirements and reflects the increasingly global nature of our industry, while maintaining the high safety standards that have long characterised the European elevator sector.
At the same time, the industry is facing another transformation of far-reaching significance: digitalisation. Artificial intelligence, predictive maintenance, remote monitoring and cybersecurity are rapidly evolving from future concepts into everyday operational tools that will become standard practice over the coming years.
This technological evolution will also reshape the industry’s business model. Intelligent data management, the delivery of new digital services, and the growing integration of elevators into building management systems will define the next stage in the evolution of the elevator industry.
The sector is also preparing for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on Machinery, which will become fully applicable from January 2027 and will replace the current Machinery Directive. Although the Regulation applies to products outside the scope of the Lift Directive—such as escalators, slow-speed lifts, lifting platforms and stairlifts—it will drive a further update of the technical, documentary and procedural requirements applicable to manufacturers, installers and conformity assessment bodies.
At FEEDA, we will continue working to ensure that this transformation is driven by consensus, technical excellence and close cooperation among all stakeholders.
We are convinced that the future of our industry will depend not only on our capacity to innovate, but also on our ability to adapt and develop effective responses to the technological and regulatory challenges ahead. Our sector is currently undergoing one of the most significant regulatory, technological and business transformations of recent decades.
More informations: feeda.es
Digitalpaper
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