A forest of construction cranes still surrounds Francisco Hernando’s vast residential complex in Seseña, just half an hour’s drive from Madrid, but with the bursting of the Spanish property bubble, Mr Hernando’s plan to build a “Manhattan in La Mancha” looks like a Quixotic dream.

At the height of Spain’s building frenzy, Mr Hernando, a rags-to-riches real estate tycoon, obtained planning permission to build 13,500 new homes in the sun-baked plains of Castile. There were to be 280 blocks of flats built around lush gardens, swimming pools and a lake, even though Seseña suffers from water shortages every summer. The residential complex was billed as one of the largest in Spain, and would be marketed to young families who could not afford the cost of living in Madrid.