Over recent decades, the number of people and the capital invested in flood-prone
areas has undergone a significant increase worldwide, particularly in coastal areas.
There are several studies that show how the influence of socio-economic factors
over local planning authorities seems to be the main reason for exposure increase.
This paper explores the causes and consequences of inefficient flood risk
governance along the Spanish Mediterranean coastal municipalities. For that
purpose, national and regional flood management policies were contrasted with the
outcomes of a spatial intersection between cadastral data at local level and
floodable areas, for different return periods (10, 50, 100 and 500 years). The results
demonstrate a significant growth in exposure due to inefficient spatial planning and
flood reduction strategies.
