CROPS are withering, fountains are turned off and swimming pools will stand empty through the summer across much of southern Spain as the worst drought for 60 years reaches emergency levels.

Spaniards have a saying that neatly sums up their plight: “Now the trees chase the dogs.” This, though, is no laughing matter; half of Spain is subject to water rationing and there is no sign of rain until autumn as La Sequia takes a grip.

In Andalusia, southern Spain, an estimated 20,000 fish lie rotting next to rivers or reservoirs that have become trickles, with water levels half those of last year. Watering gardens is banned.

Rainfall between October and May was a third below the average figure since records began in 1930.

Farmers estimate that their losses so far this year are €2.6 billion (£1.74 billion). In Elche, southeast Spain, farmers can water their crops for only eight minutes a day. Many are thinking of quitting the driest areas.

Eastern Spain has been among the worst-affected regions, particularly the Costa Brava and Alicante.

In the villages of the mountainous Ribagorza region, in Aragon, firefighters have been filling up water supplies in 15 villages after a year without rain or snow. Andrés Paciello, a fireman for 20 years, said yesterday: “Old people can remember a drought in 1924 which was almost as bad, but nothing like this.”

In Barcelona the drain holes that take run-off from the Metro are pumped out to water parks and clean the streets.

Yet ecologists claim that the very water everyone is gasping for is being tapped by hundreds of illegal wells across Spain.

Portugal accused Spain this week of stealing its water and demanded £4 million in compensation after the River Douro fell below levels agreed by the two countries.

Spain admitted that it broke a 1998 agreement designed to stop such rows over water.

After meteorologists said that Spain was experiencing the worst drought since 1945, the Government mounted a £249 million emergency rescue plan. Cristina Narbona, the Environment Minister, pledged financial help for farmers and said that household supplies could be guaranteed until September.

Across Spain the amount of farmland is increasing, placing more strain on limited resources. In Murcia, southeastern Spain, 30,000 hectares of irrigated land have been planted in recent years.

Human demand for water will far outstrip farmers’ needs, however. Spaniards see their homes as their castles but many cannot afford to buy their own. The Government has promised to build 180,000 new houses each year.

Neither does the tide of northern Europeans keen to find homes in the sun show signs of slowing down. On the Costa Blanca alone, the number of Britons rises by 10 per cent a year.

In the Valencia region a million new homes are planned over the next ten years, potentially placing more pressure on water stocks.

David Hammerstein, a Spanish Green MEP, said: “Foreigners are cynically sold these places in some of the driest parts of Spain by people who know they may not be able to fill their swimming pools.”

He blames the lack of “clear government” for allowing “corrupt” misuse of water supplies.

The Socialist Government overturned a plan to divert the country’s largest river, the Ebro, to bring water to southeastern Spain. Instead, it plans a series of desalinisation plants.

Russell Thomson, the British Consul in Alicante, said: “The real problem is the number of golf courses planned and the number of people moving to this area.

“Yet no action has been taken to deal with what will be a real strain on the water supply. We will just have to take fewer ice cubes in our gin and tonics from now on.”

THE DRY SPELL

The drought has created some tension with neighbouring Portugal, which has demanded €6 million (£4 million) in compensation from Spain after levels of water in the Douro river fell below agreed limits

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