López-Carrión et al. (2025) Desinformación durante la crisis producida por la DANA de 2024 en España: análisis, características, tipologías y desmentidos

Identification

• Journal: Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-06-02
• Authors: Alberto E. López-Carrión, Germán Llorca Abad
• DOI: 10.14198/medcom.29303

Research Groups

• Dr. Alberto E. López-Carrión, Universidad Internacional de Valencia, Spain
• Dr. Germán Llorca-Abad, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

Short Summary

This study analyzes the disinformation crisis during the 2024 DANA disaster in Spain, identifying key falsehoods in digital media and their impact, finding that disinformation centered on victim counts, climate conspiracy theories, and institutional attacks, primarily spread via social media and targeting the Spanish Government and AEMET.

Objective

• To determine the main types of falsehoods and fake news collected in the digital press during the 2024 DANA crisis in Spain, particularly in the province of Valencia, analyzing their nature, algorithmic determination, diagonalism, and disinformation in natural disaster crisis communication, differentiating actors, interests, and types of falsehoods detected.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Spain, with a specific focus on the Valencian Community and its municipalities.
• Temporal Scale: October 28, 2024, to November 17, 2024.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis, utilizing a coding book based on previous research and the EMI paradigm for professional journalistic environments.
• Data sources: 185 news articles from 14 leading national and regional digital media outlets in Spain and the Valencian Community, retrieved from Factiva and MyNews digital archives.

Main Results

• A total of 192 falsehoods were identified across 185 news articles, with coverage peaking one week after the disaster (November 4, 2024).
• The most prevalent falsehoods included rumors about hundreds of deaths in the Bonaire Shopping Center parking (39 falsehoods, 20.3%), attacks on the Spanish Government and its agencies (28 falsehoods, 14.6%), and false narratives involving journalists and media outlets (23 falsehoods, 12%).
• Key targets of disinformation were the Spanish Government and the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET).
• The majority of falsehoods (75%) were categorized as "intentional false information" (deliberately created to deceive), and 75% were "invention of facts," indicating a high severity of falsity.
• Social media (50%) was the primary channel for disinformation dissemination, followed by traditional media (26%).
• Approximately 28% of the falsehoods originated or were propagated by journalists, although most were intended to inform rather than deceive.
• The Spanish Government's official social media accounts debunked 9 specific falsehoods, primarily those attacking governmental actions or policies.

Contributions

• The study uniquely applies the concept of diagonalism to disinformation within the context of natural disasters.
• It provides empirical evidence on the spread of fake news and its impact on crisis management, offering insights for developing effective fact-checking and media literacy strategies.

Funding

• The research did not receive funding.

Citation

@article{LópezCarrión2025Desinformación,
  author = {López-Carrión, Alberto E. and Abad, Germán Llorca},
  title = {Desinformación durante la crisis producida por la DANA de 2024 en España: análisis, características, tipologías y desmentidos},
  journal = {Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.14198/medcom.29303},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.14198/medcom.29303}
}