Chronicle of a forecast flood: exposure and vulnerability on the southeast coast of Spain

In recent years, flooding has become one of the main natural disasters which poses the greatest risk, impact and bearing on the coastal areas of southeast peninsular Spain. Traditionally, the analysis of torrential precipitation events that cause floods has been predominant in the assessment of the factors that lead to this type of catastrophe. At present, despite considering this meteorological phenomenon as the trigger of river overflows, responsibility corresponding to the human factor in the perpetration of the risk of a natural disaster should not be forgotten. This study will ascertain the influence of urban and real estate development in increasing exposure to floods. In this sense, the pluviometric observations obtained in different precipitation events have been counted, mapped and analysed. Likewise, the evolution and development of the real estate portfolio is examined. The information obtained has been crossed with the digital cartography of flooded areas (National System of Flood Zones Cartography, SNCZI in spanish acronym). The main finding of the study shows that there seems to be unquestionable evidence to attribute a good part of the existing risk to the territorial transformation and to the continuous process of artificialization of the soil recently carried out.