Spain has been years late in preparing for blows like DANA despite knowing for decades that there is no other remedy

The devastation and death that DANA has left, especially in Valencia and Albacete, are a disastrous reminder that Spain, even if it looks the other way, is forced to adapt to the blows delivered by climate change. Adaptation means, as the UN explains, adjusting, preparing for the effects of a climate already altered by human-generated global warming of the planet. In the case of Spain, heat waves, droughts or, of course, violent storms that trigger explosive floods.

The warning had been given for almost two decades. The preliminary assessment of the impacts in Spain due to the effect of climate change prepared by the Government dates back to 2005 and said: “The areas vulnerable to flooding are located in the vicinity of urban centers and tourist centers (especially in the Mediterranean)” and clarified that “prevention supported by regulations that regulate construction in areas susceptible to flooding should be favored, without, at the same time, developing sufficient protection measures.”

The adaptation actions to climate change that are projected and whose first evidence is already observed, are considered absolutely necessary

First National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (2006)
— Spanish Climate Change Office

The first National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (2006) made it clear that there was no choice but to face this reality: “The adaptation actions to climate change that are projected and whose first evidence is already observed, are considered absolutely necessary,” it stated. . Because tackling greenhouse gas emissions was “far from being achieved.” These measures should be “implemented at the national or subregional level, since the impacts and vulnerabilities are specific to each place.” The DANA of October 2024 and how it has flooded the Valencian territory have shown this analysis.

That plan warned that “adaptation to climate change, by its very nature, requires a sustained medium or long-term strategy.” However, until now, “adaptation is the forgotten of the forgotten. Adapting does not sell,” says Greenpeace campaign director María José Caballero. In fact, the Sixth Report on Local Policies to combat climate change found that only 28% of the municipalities analyzed had adaptation plans (compared to 71% with plans to reduce emissions).

“Floods constitute the natural risk with the greatest economic and social impact that can be generated in a short period of time.” That is the sentence that appears in that first impact evaluation developed by the Spanish Climate Change Office in 2005.

Late? “Absolutely yes”

Is Spain behind in adapting to the damages that climate change was known to inflict? “Of course. Absolutely yes,” answers the director of the New Water Culture Foundation, Julia Martínez, at least in terms of alleviating floods like the one that has just devastated Valencia.

Martínez supports his statement by recalling at random how the Minister of Development of the Region of Murcia, José Ramón Díez de Revenga, asked the Government in 2022 to withdraw its maps of flood zones because they paralyzed construction licenses or that the regional Executive itself had approved. this year an exception to build in flood-prone areas with certain requirements. “They are a drop in a sea of ​​irresponsibility and delays when it comes to taking adaptation to climate change seriously and it means putting economic interests before people’s safety,” says Julia Martínez.

It is not that those responsible for the administrations do not know what they are talking about. They themselves answered in the local policy report that “the threats indicated by the municipalities surveyed highlight, first of all, extreme temperatures, followed by droughts, floods and storms.”

María José Caballero says that “the adaptation is being done with voluntary agreements, which relegates it to last place.” And he continues: “It is difficult for us to find good examples of adaptation. We have seen it in Barcelona and Alicante, but it costs. Only 5% of the territory of the cities is well permeabilized so that the water does not flow later as has been seen in this DANA.” Because, as the latest version of the National Adaptation Plan (2020) recalls, “floods are also favored by the large impermeable urban surfaces, which prevent infiltration and favor runoff.”

Some adaptation actions are expensive and take time to carry out, but it is urgent to start them. We must act urgently to adapt our lifestyle to the new situation

Julia Martinez
— Director of the New Water Culture Foundation

Although adaptation is not limited to resisting floods of water – Spain has to readjust to having long periods of intense drought that impact agriculture and tourism or to peaks of extreme heat that suffocate cities and favor large forest fires – the tragedy of This latest DANA has focused on the floods. The 2021-2030 Adaptation Plan states that “reducing the risks derived from floods” requires a series of points:

And then he highlights that “within the adaptation measures to address the risk of flooding, priority will be actions aimed at recovering the morphology and natural dynamics of the channels and promoting solutions based on nature.”

Julia Martínez summarizes that “some adaptation actions are expensive and take time to carry out, but it is urgent to start them. We must act immediately to adapt our lifestyle to the new situation.”