On Monday, October 1, 2001, Canal de las Estrellas started broadcasting El Manantial weekdays at 9:00pm, replacing Sin pecado concebido. The last episode was broadcast on Friday, February 8, 2002 with Entre el amor y el odio replacing it the following Monday.[2][3]
In the town of San Andrés, the rivalry between two families —the Valdés and the Ramírez— finds its most obvious channel in "The Spring"
A beautiful spring of water that bathes the small Valdés property and not the neighboring ranch, the rich and prosperous "Piedras Grandes" hacienda, where the best wild cattle in the country are raised, which belongs to the Ramírez family.
However, the real reason for such an intense hatred is hidden in privacy. Justo Ramírez (Alejandro Tommasi), married to Margarita Insunza (Daniela Romo), maintains an adulterous relationship with Francisca Rivero (Azela Robinson), the wife of his rival and neighbor, Rigoberto Valdés (César Évora). This relationship, founded on deceit and promiscuity, will generate the bitterest resentment and will cause the gradual destruction of the two families.
The Valdés have a beautiful daughter named Alfonsina (Adela Noriega), who was born at the same time as Alejandro (Mauricio Islas), the Ramírez's only son and natural heir. Despite having been raised apart from each other and with their souls filled with prejudices against their respective families, they cannot help but feel attracted.
Alfonsina and Alejandro's first meeting is not exactly the best. Accustomed as they are to hating each other's last names, they are convinced of what they have always known: that the Valdés and the Ramírez can only be enemies.
The hatred of Alfonsina's family increases when Justo Ramírez, through a bad move, gets what he has always wanted: To own "The Spring". The loss of the property forces Alfonsina's family to leave San Andrés; hurt, she swears that she will do everything in her power to get back the land that belonged to her grandparents.
Thus, thinking that they have finally got rid of their eternal enemies, the Ramírez decide that the best candidate to be Alejandro's wife is Bárbara Luna (Karyme Lozano), a pretty but calculating and somewhat frivolous young girl. Bárbara's family, interested in the advantages that said link will bring them, is delighted with the idea and they formalize the engagement. This coincides with Alfonsina's return to San Andrés.
Bárbara mistrusts the newcomer and tries by all means to get her away from her future husband. However, the force of love is stronger than any intrigue and Alfonsina and Alejandro finally confess their love for each other.
But the resentment and ill will that has marked the relationship between their families condemns them to be victims of bitterness. To survive, their love will have to overcome the barriers that fate presents them and thus turn "The Spring" into a true source of hope.
