'Climate Fanaticism Kills': The Spanish Far-Right’s ‘Disaster Narratives’ on Flooding in the Valencian Community

The emerging field of disaster studies has not reached a consensus on the political and electoral effects of exposure to an environmental disaster. While some studies have focused on the perceptions of the performance of the authorities in charge at the time of the disaster, others have recently examined the impact on pro-environmental attitudes and support for green parties, with contrasting results (Cremaschi & Stanig, 2024 ; Hilbig & Riaz, 2024). A general theme seems to emerge from these pioneering studies: why does the occurrence of a climate disaster not necessarily lead to a substantial increase in electoral support for pro-climate actors? Recent research has highlighted the importance of considering the intermediate variable of ‘disaster narratives’, i.e. the discourses produced by media and political actors that are likely to influence citizen’s perceptions of responsibility and disaster management (Rubin, 2020). In this paper, we propose to examine the disaster narratives produced around the October 2024 floods in the Valencian Community (Spain), the management of which has been the subject of much controversy, through a case study centred on the Spanish far right. Indeed, far-right media and digital platforms are notorious for disseminating climate sceptic discourse and constructing narratives that question the climatic origins of natural disasters (Vowles & Hutman, 2020; Pulido, 2024). Conversely, little is known about the discourse produced by far-right political parties on climate-related disasters, even though these parties have been identified in the literature as the political family most inclined to oppose an ambitious climate agenda (Huber, Maltby, Seulecki & Ćetković, 2021; Dickson & Hobolt, 2024). We therefore focus our analysis on the Spanish far-right party VOX, which is known for its oppositional positions on climate policy (Hanson, 2024). We adopt a mixed-methods research design, combining a lexicometric analysis based on a corpus of tweets and public speeches by VOX executives in the month following the floods in Valence region, and a qualitative discourse analysis. Our analysis shows that VOX explicitly rejects the responsibility of climate change for the floods and even turns the tables by blaming climate planning and environmental policies drawn up by supranational institutions (EU Green Deal and 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, UN Sustainable Development Goals). VOX also develops a populist discourse that pits the brave and united Spanish people against the socialist central government described as criminal. On the other hand, our analysis shows that VOX largely spares the regional government (PP, conservative), which has regularly been criticised for its poor management of the warning system. Finally, VOX emphasises its position as a 'movement-party' committed to helping the victims on the ground through its various associations (Revuelta, Solidaridad), which are supposed to make up for the failings of the state, as reflected in the slogan 'only the people save the people'.