It's become one of the most popular areas in Spain, and Murcia on the south-east coast boasts the vast array of beaches, unspoilt nature parks and affordable property prices that are likely to see the area blink all the more incessantly on the radar of the British homebuyers.

Property prices, for example, shot up rapidly in the Murcia region last year by 25 per cent, compared to an average of 17 per cent for the whole of Spain.
 
However, an unprecedented dry spell throughout most of the country has had implications for the region, which receives more annual sunshine than any other area in the country. 
 
Water supplies may be cut in south-eastern Spain as reservoirs fall to 10 per cent of their capacity, according to officials in the Spanish government. Murcia and Alicante, both badly hit, have reached their lowest level this year after months of drought.
 
What's more, Environment Minister Cristina Narbona has accused politicians in Alicante and Murcia of worrying more about the needs of golf courses and hotels than about water conservation. While it is true that Murcia has been labelled a golfers  paradise, with five major golf resorts and up to a further 29 courses planned, it has always been seen as a region that escaped the massive urbanisation and over-development that turned some areas along the south coast into tacky tourist traps.
 
The proposed construction of around 29 million square metres of commercial outlets and businesses, then, might worry environmentalists and those who believe the burden may be too much on the already fragile water supply.
 
Investors, on the other hand, will have plenty of reasons to celebrate as Murcia City Hall recently announced a programme which will create industrial land sufficient for up to 6,000 companies in two years time, and potentially stem the outflow of business from the region into nearby towns. It's a welcome injection of finance into the region. Unfortunately, the much-needed injection of water into the region's reservoirs is slightly trickier to organise.

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Read other articles about Spain:
Spain attracting young homebuyers
Why buy property in Murcia?
Murcia's property market turns up the heat

Article published on 13 September 2006