Every year in Spain more apartments are built than in France, England and Germany put together. Spain’s construction industry is booming, not least because many people are acquiring a secondary residence for themselves in that beautiful country.

The Spanish City Cadiz seen from the sea.However, construction is taking place not only on legally designated land. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported in the March 28 issue that between 2005 and 2006 Spanish environmental police discovered around 13,000 illegal construction operations. This building boom is going on at the expense of Nature. And the Spanish newspaper “El Pais” reported at the beginning of March that ten nature conservation areas are being endangered by illegal construction – building that is manifestly against the effective environmental protection laws. Sometimes illegal land-grabs are even being authorized retroactively. The FAZ writes that last year the regional government of the province Cadiz authorized 15,000 illegally constructed houses and apartments. Due to construction, surfaces are sealed and can no longer absorb water. Many regions are already complaining about chronic lack of water in the hot summer months. An obvious connection between the construction boom and water shortage does not seem to enter the minds of those in authority. Spain’s pleasurable place in the sun could be a thing of the past in coming decades. Christina Narbona, Spain’s Minister of Environment, announced the results of the United Nations climate study in February, whereby in Spain the temperature could increase by between four and seven degrees Celsius by the end of this century.