Drought in south-western Europe. The great desiccation

Water shortages in Spain reflect low prices as much as drought

THE rain in Spain falls so rarely in the plain nowadays that the might of the church has been called in. One of the last pronouncements of Pope John Paul II was to scold Spain's new government for scrapping a plan to divert water from the River Ebro in the north to the parched south. As Spain endures its worst drought since 1947, the bishop of Cartagena, in Murcia, has pledged to fight for his flock's water.

Some reservoirs in the south are only 20% full; many rivers are running at a third of normal volume. Emergency restrictions have been imposed across half the country. Farmers face a disastrous two years. The government puts agricultural losses caused by drought at €1.7 billion ($2.1 billion) already. Vegetables are being watered with untreated sewage in parts of Murcia. Water consumption quintuples in July and August in coastal regions; visitors to Spain's beaches this summer may face water rationing. “Spain is about to die of thirst,” said the newspaper El Mundo.

The country's desiccated condition was shown last week when a massive fire, apparently started by a barbecue, killed 11 volunteer firemen and destroyed 30,000 acres of pine forest in Guadalajara. Other Mediterranean countries such as France and Italy are suffering too - though Romania is experiencing catastrophic floods. Spain's neighbour, Portugal, has demanded €6m in compensation from Madrid after water levels in the River Douro fell below limits in a bilateral agreement.

A “water war” has also erupted over Castile-La Mancha's diversion of the River Tajo at Murcia's expense. Murcia dismisses claims that it uses the water for golf courses - it is needed for fruit and vegetables. Yet the number of golf courses in Spain has doubled in the past five years, to 276; another 150 are planned. They are meant to lure 800,000 rich golfers a year to Spain. Castile-La Mancha deployed a spy-plane to see how Murcia and Alicante manage their water, and concluded that they have 14,000 secret reservoirs.

A government report gives warning that a third of Spain may turn into desert because of climate change, poor farming practices and tourism. Spain's construction boom, which saw a record 700,000 new homes built in 2004, half of them on the southern coast, has also led to the building of thousands of illegal wells, further sapping water supplies. Farmers complain that foreign tourists, such as those pesky golfers, take their water. But Cristina Narbona, the environment minister, points out that four-fifths of Spain's water goes to agriculture; some 90% is used in inefficient flood irrigation rather than drip irrigation. Spain also loses millions of gallons in leaks from antiquated pipes.

The scarcity of water has not made it expensive, as elementary economics might suggest. Far from it: on average, water in Spain costs one-thirtieth of prices elsewhere in Europe. Spanish families devote less than 1% of their incomes to water. As the newspaper El Pais has suggested, “the price of water must be increased considerably. Only in this way can the waste be stopped.” Yet a plan to penalise farmers who waste water and to make tourist resorts and golf courses pay 15 times more than the average household was beaten off by the agriculture ministry - even though these matters are supposed under EU rules to be decided locally.

Ms Narbona has announced a €370m budget to fight the drought, with more desalination plants, more recycling, new wells and plans to plug leaks. But unless prices are raised, Spain will suffer: subsidised water producing subsidised crops, and aiding the coastal construction boom. The biggest lesson of this drought should be economic, not environmental.