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The DANA (the Spanish acronym for high-altitude isolated depression, a weather phenomenon) caused flooding in several municipalities in the province of Valencia. From the beginning, a piece of disinformation appeared: “The destruction of dams in recent years by the government of Pedro Sánchez has been the cause of this catastrophe”. This theory (false, because in fact no dams have been destroyed in the affected area in the last six years) claims that, if these imaginary infrastructures were still in place, the consequences of the heavy rains would not have been so bad.
This narrative has crossed borders: in an analysis of 66 publications by Maldita.es, we found that on Twitter (now X) it has been spread in at least eight languages: Spanish, German, French, Dutch, English, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish. These contents were published between Wednesday 30 October and Monday 25 November (almost a month after the DANA phenomenon in Valencia and eastern regions of Spain) and, in total, they have almost 28.5 million views. In 80% of the cases they have been published by users with the blue tick and in only two examples have we found Community Notes warning that this is false content. At the time of publication of this text (29 November), these contents are still available on X.
“Dam destruction caused the DANA phenomenon in Valencia”: a disinformation with millions of views on X
We have already told you that no dam has been demolished between 2018 and 2024 (years when Pedro Sánchez has led the Spanish Government) in the area affected by the floods. From 2006 to 2024, dams were removed in the Hydrographic Demarcation of the Júcar, but none of them were in the area affected by the heavy rains in October. And they were destroyed for flood safety, legal obligation and ecosystem restoration.
Even so, Maldita.es has located 66 contents on X that spread this narrative. Some of them have millions of views and, together, have reached more than 28 million. Some disinformation profiles in Spanish that we have warned about on other occasions have also shared these false messages.
And X is not the only social network where messages about the supposed consequences of the false demolition of dams in Valencia have gone viral. TikTok has been another focus of disinformation in this emergency. Videos defending this narrative have also been shared on this platform: such as this example in which a glass is used to prove the efficacy of dams or this other experiment on flood containment by dams.
How a local narrative has been translated into several languages and is being used to attack the European Union
Part of this narrative is that “the European Union forced the Spanish government to destroy dams”. In fact, “Pedro Sanchez dynamited more than 200 dams to comply with the 2030 Agenda” or “In obedience to the 2030 Agenda, the socialist Pedro Sanchez had demolished more than 100 dams” are some of the messages that can be read on X.
This disinformative narrative, about a specific event in Spain, has become an international hoax. Content with messages against the European Union and the supposed destruction of dams has been shared in at least seven languages (in addition to Spanish). At Maldita.es we have located X's publications in German, French, Dutch, English, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish.
French, Spanish and English are the languages in which most content has been identified (almost 73% of the total). They are also the most viral (together with content in Dutch): the 48 publications in these three languages have more than 26.8 million views as of the date of publication of this text. In fact, the top seven contents with the most views are in Spanish, English and French. In this link you can find all the contents we have included and their reach as of 28 November 2024.
One thing to bear in mind: the demolition of these barriers is not the responsibility of the Spanish Government or the European Union. It is a decision taken by the institutions that control the use of water in the river basins (areas through which a main river and its tributaries flow). Some of these institutions depend on an Autonomic Government (if the demarcation is located in a single community) or on the hydrographic confederations (if the demarcation crosses several communities).
From Spain to the rest of the world: this is how this disinformation has spread to other countries
The fact that it has been translated from Spanish into seven other languages does not mean that it only circulates in seven other countries. In fact, this narrative has crossed borders, even reaching other continents. For example, some of the content in Spanish that has gone viral has been published from accounts based in Latin America. This is the case of this message from Carlos Felipe Mejía, senator of Colombia between 2014 and 2022; this other tweet from La Derecha Diario, a website from Argentina; or this publication by Agustín Etchebarne, an Argentine economist with more than 200,000 followers on X.
There is also an X account called Reacción Nacional that has shared this hoax about the destruction of dams in Spain. The account has a message posted on its profile redirecting users to its Telegram channel, where flags from up to eight different countries can be seen. And its contact number has a US or Canadian prefix.
Something similar happens with publications in English. The profiles that have published the content analysed by Maldita.es state in their biographies that they are tweeting from different parts of the world: a province in Netherlands, a city in Israel, Berlin (Germany) or London (United Kingdom), such as this publication by Alexandra Lesley Phillips (television host and ex-member of the European Parliament).
The direct impact of these publications is not only on Spaniards who use X, there are also profiles from other parts of the world who receive this disinformation (in Spanish or other languages). In this way, these false translations and content about the supposedly destroyed dams in Spain travel to other countries and the hoax is internationalised.
Almost 80% of the content has been published by accounts with the blue tick, but this does not mean that they are reliable
A common element that we have detected in our analysis is that most of the accounts that have shared this narrative on X pay for the premium version. In 78.8% of the cases, these are posts from accounts with the blue tick. Of the 66 pieces of content analysed, only 14 came from profiles without the blue tick. In fact, among the 15 most viral, there is only one that does not have this mark (and it is in ninth place).
This mark can give a false sense of security. Before Elon Musk turned it into X, it was used to know that an account was verified (in other words, that the person who had written the message was really who they say). But for a while now, the blue tick has only been available by paying for it. And this is a problem for disinformation, because the comments of users with this blue tick occupy privileged positions (for example among the replies to a tweet). In fact, at Maldita.es we have already told you how some accounts with this distinctive symbol pretend to be Spanish politicians in order to generate disinformation.
Only two of the 66 contents analysed have community notes
One more thing these contents have in common: almost none of them have Community Notes from X. Only two of the 66 posts analysed for this research have a message warning that the content is not true. This system allows context to be added to tweets to give users additional information so they can see if a tweet is false, although it is not moderated or verified so we cannot be sure that it is reliable.
One of them is in Spanish and has two million views at the moment (the third most viral of the videos analysed). It states that “a report shows how Pedro Sánchez ordered the demolition of more than 100 dams since 2021”, which has generated “the natural catastrophe of the DANA”. He even says that this supposed destruction of barriers has been “worse” and has caused “many more deaths”.
This tweet has a community note that says that “only one dam has been demolished in Spain in recent years: La Alberca (Madrid) in 2020”, with a link to the website of the Community of Madrid. And it adds, also with a reference to Climática (a magazine specialising in reporting on global warming), that “other fluvial obstacles that do not have the function of accumulating water due to disuse were demolished”.
The video used as a ‘source’ to justify this narrative has also been shared by other users (with even more views). And not only in Spanish content. Of the 66 publications, 29 have used these same images (full or edited); but only one has a warning for users who use this application.
The second (and last) publication with a community note that we have found is in French and has more than 400,000 views, as of 28 November. In this case, it uses a map with dots showing the supposed dams that have been demolished near the city of Valencia. The community note indicates that it shows structures “that raise the level of a river, but do not prevent the passage of water”. The users have taken this information from the French media Libération.
Again, this map with false information has been used in other publications within this same platform (in at least 13 of the 66 analysed by Maldita.es) and they do not have a community note warning other users that it is not true.
The Community Notes have not been enough to fight the disinformation caused by the DANA phenomenon in Valencia and eastern regions of Spain. This other analysis of 176 tweets by Maldita.es reveals that of the tweets containing debunked hoaxes, only 8.5% have these messages. Of the rest without a note, only 25% of them have a note that was proposed but is not visible. In general, posts with context added to them are the most viral.
