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Tabernas

Population circa 3,100

Market day - Wednesday

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Situated between the the Sierra de Alhamilla and Sierra de Filabres, Tabernas is a small village with a big reputation: Spaghetti Westerns were (at least partially) made here. Back in the 1960s, the area became a magnet for producers seeking a less expensive backdrop for movies, especially Westerns. Sergio Leone produced such films as A Fistful of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Other notable releases included King of Kings, Lawrence of Arabia (which used Carboneras as a North African village), Patton, and more recently, Spielberg's Empire of the Sun.

There are three studios, now theme parks - Texas Hollywood, Western Leone and Mini Hollywood: the first two are still partially working locations.

The area around Tabernas is Europe's only true desert, with temperatures in the winter reaching as low as 0 C and as high as 45 C in summer. It also bears remarkable geological similarities to the Arizona and California deserts, with canyons and plateaux, dry river beds and mountain ranges.

The village itself is not outstanding, although there is a ruined Moorish fortress, the elegant Inglesia de La Encarnacion (16th and 17th century) and a town hall that was once a grain store. Nearby, out in the desert, stands Europe's largest solar energy research station with its rows of mirrors and cells glinting in the abundant sunlight.

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