People urged to stop flow of misinformation as fire department says it is hindering work to save citizens

Home to more than 120 shops, a cinema and 34 restaurants, the Bonaire shopping centre had long been known as one of the largest in the Valencia region. After flood waters coursed through the municipality of Aldaia last week, it began making headlines for another reason: disinformation over the fate of its vast underground car park.

Online personalities, including one with more than 10 million followers, along with a prominent TV host and a far-right activist, seized on the fact that rescuers had been unable to enter the car park, falsely claiming that it contained hundreds – if not thousands – of bodies.

This week, as the flood waters receded, they were roundly discredited by Spanish police and the army, who said the car park had been searched and no bodies had been found.

It was a glimpse of the speculation, false claims and hoaxes that have surged after the deadly storm, straining a country already wrestling with the deaths of more than 200 people. “The disinformation started on Tuesday night,” said Ximena Villagrán of Maldita.es, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to factchecking. “And from that moment onwards, there was a significant explosion.”

More than a week after the floods, her organisation has confirmed more than 60 related hoaxes, echoing the kind of spread often seen in elections or in Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “In crisis situations,...

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