In this guest piece, two EEB members analyse last year’s devastating floods in Spain and Poland. Their message is clear: decades of mismanagement of land and water have compounded the harmful effects of climate change, one of the greatest challenges facing Europe. We urgently need authorities to acknowledge the science, support the needs of people over profit, and rapidly implement policies to adapt and future-proof Europe’s urban and rural communities. To make Europe truly water resilient, we must protect and restore our home: nature. Julia Martínez Fernández (New Water Culture Foundation) and Ewa Leś (Polish Ecological Club, Environmentalists Without Borders) report.
Floods in Spain: the explosive combination of climate change, territorial chaos and absent culture of risk
On 29 November 2024, an extraordinary rainfall event caused the most dramatic flooding in Spain in decades. Particularly affecting the region of Valencia, these devastating floods left more than 200 people dead and caused widespread damage, affecting more than 190,000 people and 75,000 homes.
Several factors explain the magnitude of this catastrophe. First, rainfall intensity hit historic levels, reaching 300 l/m² in many areas. According to the World Weather Attribution, big rainfall events like this one are now twice as frequent and 12% more intense than in a pre-industrial climate.
But the consequences would not have been so dramatic if three additional factors had not come together. First, despite the European and Spanish legal framework about these types of extreme events, flood zones have been increasingly occupied by housing and infrastructure. The result is that around half a million people in the Valencia region and around four million in Spain are living in flood zones.
Such areas, which are usually dry, can become big rivers in just a few minutes. And yet, despite rules and planning tools regarding flood risks, public authorities have allowed civilians to live in such dangerous zones. For example, a noticeable proportion of the 75,000 houses affected by the flooding in Valencia were built in the last two decades, during the real estate bubble driven by big private speculation and investment, favored over the residents’ safety, the environment and the broader public interest.
The second factor that aggravated the damages was the inadequate reaction from the responsible authorities, who issued a safety alert almost 12 hours too late. This delay substantially increased the number of people that could not escape to safety. Moreover, no measures were taken to limit or avoid the use of private vehicles and to remove them from areas where they might be an obstacle for water flows. As a result, around 120,000 cars were dragged away, increasing the danger to civilians and aggravating damages.
The third factor was the absence of a culture of risk among the population. The lack of public actions to strengthen the social capabilities around flood and other water-related risks means that, in many situations, people take bad decisions that put themselves in greater – often even mortal – danger.
The recent floods in Spain have shown that we urgently need to take drastic measures to mitigate climate change if we want to avoid even more catastrophic scenarios in the future. But in the short run, adaptation to the consequences of climate change is unavoidable because of the increasing frequency and intensification of major devastating rainfall events.
To respond adequately to these looming threats, and become truly water resilient in Spain ( and this applies to Europe at large), we must: (i) free up flood zones, especially high-risk ones; (ii) reconnect rivers to their floodplains; (iii) make extensive use of natural water retention measures in natural, agricultural, urban and riparian areas, and (iv) restore ecosystems – natural safeguards against such devastating climate chaos – in line with the urgent objectives of the EU’s Nature Restoration Law. Finally, efforts should also be devoted to developing a ‘culture of risk’ among the population and to strengthen the social capacities to reduce their vulnerability during flood events, including sound scientific communication to fight against misinformation in social networks and other digital media. One of the actions required to improve preparedness is to implement a fully-fledged and fit-for-purpose Early Warning System to minimise risk and harm.
Floods in Poland: the effects of river valleys urban development and climate change
In September 2024, southern Poland was hit by devastating floods, affecting around 750 localities and 57,000 people. Over 6,500 people were evacuated, with water flooding 11,500 residential buildings, 6,000 farm buildings, and 724 public utility buildings. The water level in many places significantly exceeded that of the record-breaking 1997 – in four days, from 300 to over 400 l/m² in many places in southern Poland, which is as much as should have fallen there in four or even six months! In Kłodzko on the Nysa Kłodzka River, 798 cm was recorded, which is 5.5 m above the alarm level.
This flood was exceptional in terms of its size and of the preparation and activity of local communities in protecting towns and villages prone to floods due to its location and urban development of river valleys. Those localities were already flooded in 1997. Estimated losses in hydro-technical structures and equipment reached almost a billion euros, not to mention the private loss.
Assessing the root causes
The causes of such extensive devastation are long-term mismanagement of water and inadequate landscape planning. These include changes in this particular southern catchment area – urbanisation (sealing) of the area, deforestation and poor forest management in mountain and submountainous regions. Over the years, the development of river valleys has been prioritized, often through the straightening and deepening of rivers, which was meant to contain floods. Moreover, “hard” protective measures—such as dams—have often exacerbated the situation, as they prevent natural river debris transport and increase the destructive power of floods.
In fact, a natural river system, when left undisturbed and kept at a safe distance from urban development, is far more resilient to floods. “Soft” non-investment measures, like the introduction of restrictions on the development of river valleys or of subsidised infrastructure for flooded agricultural areas are key to flood risks management.
Regrettably, one of the myths in Poland is that all reservoirs prevent floods. Studies show that dams have limited effectiveness in reducing flood damage. Proper flood risk management must consider the value of nature as a fundamental ally here, for its ability to hold and retain water, and cope with water flash events.
In addition, dis- and misinformation about the effectiveness of hydrotechnical structures and post-flood actions contrary to scientific knowledge are impacting water runoff and exacerbating flood risks.
What action is needed?
If Poland is to mitigate future flood and broader climate change impacts, a paradigm shift in water management is urgently needed. The country should embrace science-based, nature-oriented flood risk management strategies, with nature-based solutions at its heart: space for rivers (floodplains), wetlands protection and restoration, and better spatial planning.
Such planning and implementation will require the close involvement of urban planners and architects. Distance of buildings from rivers, restoration of wetlands and rivers is a sustainable means of minimizing flood risks, drought effects and adaptation to climate change, the basis for improving natural retention.
To ensure more accurate and reliable meteorological data, and to better prepare for and mitigate such devastating events, Poland should join the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), being the only EU country not cooperating with this leader in global weather forecasting, especially given that climate change has increased precipitation in Central Europe by up to 20%.
Photo: Kotlina Kłodzka, Poland, fot. Ewa Grochowska.
