The Almeria region of Spain is very proud of their cinema background. Throughout the many towns in the area you will find markings for not only many Spaghetti Westerns but also other films such as Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Patton, or even Conan The Barbarian.
Entrance to Los Albaricoques
The town with perhaps the richest cinematic history is Los Albaricoques, which was featured in Fistful of Dollars, Day of Anger, El Condor, and of course most prominently in For a Few Dollars More as the town of Agua Caliente.
Map of the town (note the street names!)
This small town has fully embraced this cinema background, with signage throughout the town marking where important scenes from these films were shot. Additionally all the streets in the town have been renamed after Spaghetti Western personalities. Yes, there is a Lee Van Cleef street! In fact is it the longest street in the town!
Lee Van Cleef Street!
The central tourist hub for the town is the Hostal Alba. Here you will find a place to stay as well as a great restaurant to grab a bite. The place is filled with western memorabilia, including a fantastic painting of the outcome of the For a Few Dollars More final duel. See below (click to enlarge)
The town itself has of course changed with the times in the last nearly 50 years. I would estimate the 80% of the buildings are not as they were in the films (either heavily modified or replaced), but that does not take away from the instant recognizability of the location or it's charm.
look carefully and you will see a cat in both photos! For a Few Dollars More
These streets were where most of Indio's gang were wiped out in For a Few Dollars More. In fact one of the buildings still exhibits the bullet holes from the shootout
Bullet Holes - For a Few Dollars More
Fistful of Dollars and El Condor
Below are some various pictures from around the town. Click to enlarge.
Various views of Clint's street below
Other street signs dedicated to the Spaghetti west...
A few images from LVC street!
Almost unrecognizable, this is where Clint arrives into town and shoot the apples off the tree. The tavern where LVC shot from would have been on the right (about where the black car is)
This is where the apples were shot down
The most famous and recognizable location in the town is of course the ring where Indio and Mortimer had their final duel. That location will be the topic of it's own post next week!
Tease for next week!
For more information on Los Albaricoques, visit www.hostal-alba.com
Thank you Aaron!! Wow, this is so interesting! ♥ Imagine if your address was "Calle Lee Van Cleef"! :))) Gloria
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Aaron, thank you for all the pics and the information! It is amazing the whole place is full of memorabilia. I would like to live in a Calle Lee Van Cleef... That sounds sooooo cool!
ReplyDeleteI think I saw an apartment for sale on that street. I thought about it...
DeleteInterestingly, a bit of the World War Two docudrama "Patton" with George C. Scott was shot close to this town too. When I first saw the scene, I was expecting to see Clint or Lee to suddenly come riding down the street on a horse & point at a tank & ask the General "What the hell is that thing?".
DeleteChristopher Frayling said the streets have a certain satisfying "crunch" under your feet when you walk around town.
Aaron, that sure would have made a nice holiday cottage for the board members... ;)
DeleteYes Maggie!!! That is a GOOD idea! <3 Please could you look into this the next time you are there Aaron? :)))
DeleteManuel from the Hostel Alba said the villagers acted in the film where Clint rides into Aqua Caliente. There was a death that week and that's why all the women are wearing black.
ReplyDelete