The next morning my tent was covered with dew and because I didn’t want to pack a wet tent I waited until the sun came out to quickly dry it up and immediately turn the tent into a greenhouse forcing me out.

Today I was going to visit the last of the three western towns of the Tabernas Desert.

This one was going to be special. It was supposed to feature the main shooting location of what is said to be the best western movie of all time. The farm house of “Once upon in the west”. Another one of Sergio Leones masterpieces.

Finding the this last town was a bit more tricky because it was not signposted. Spending a bit of money on advertising wouldn’t be a bad idea. Although it seems to me that only people who plan a visit there and actively search for these places will come go there.

I did find the place and after purchasing a ticket at the entrance from a man who did not hide the fact that I was an inconvenience to his quiet day sitting in his booth I parked the bike in front of the gates.

“No Ingles, no credit card”

And with a calm voice he slowly but firmly -showing and incredible routine- uttered the words “Henry Fonda”  ——— “Claudia Cardinale” while slowly yet firmly pointing at the completely bleached photos behind him of the two Hollywood Stars of times long past. (They were part of the main cast of “Once upon a time in the west” shooting many scenes at this location.)

The first thing you see when you enter the palisades enclosed village is what you are looking for visiting this place. Bett McBains farm. The poor farmer who is about to get married but ends up dying along with is family at the hands of the villain – Frank (Henry Fonda).

On the outside the building is largely kept in it’s original state except for a few elements missing here and there and a new roof.

There really wasn’t much to see in this place other than the farm house but it was exactly what I was after. Another little part of big movie history.

The final scene. The duel that defined the word duel for all future movies to come. Henry Fonda facing off the hero “Harmonica”, Charles Bronson.

Like at the other villages this one was subject to constant alterations to suit different productions. In this instance the wall was removed and other buildings and a well added.

I spent a good three hours at this place before I decided to say goodbye to this mecca of the Spaghetti Western genre.

Before I left the Tabernas desert for good I wanted to explore a few gravel tracks leading into the heart of the desert.

 

On my way back I stopped one last time to capture the surreal European landscape.

By chance I took this photo opposite from where Monco and his horse are facing in a scene in “For a few dollars more”.

You can see the same road on my photo in the left lower corner.

It was time to keep going. My next stop would be Granada and I wanted to reach the medieval city which used to be of great importance many centuries ago before the end of the day. Not before a little detour though.

I got onto the highway aiming for Granada knowing that right on my rout there would be one last bit of western movie history I didn’t want to miss. It was the location of the train station of the opening sequence of “Once upon a time in the west” and the location of “Sweetwater”, the town with a railway station that Brett McBain wanted to found but didn’t get a chance to.

I reached the first location after an hour. It was great having found such a specific location in the middle of nowhere but it was a bit underwhelming. There is nothing left of the iconic train station. Only the mountains in the background and the still remaining earth deposit of the train tracks gives a hint that this is where the iconic opening scene of “Once upon a time in the west” was shot.

Filming one of the shots – (Sergio Leone with his hands on his back)

The very last western movie location on my Spain trip was the town in which “Misses McBain” (Claudia Cardinale) arrives before finding her husband to be dead on his farm.

In its place today, a farm. Again you can see the same mountain in the background.

Not knowing it I had stopped at a place which was actually two film sets in one location. I just had to turn my head to my right. Another train station. Featured in “The good the bad and the ugly” in “Once upon a time in the west” and I think also one of the original Django movies and last but not least one of my favorite movies “My name is Nobody”. I looked at the station and thought it looked oddly familiar but since I hadn’t read anything about it I disregarded it after taking a photo just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Only later I realized that in fact it was a much used location. I even saw photos of a graffiti on the main buildings walls that reads “viva Leone”.

Here is the station in “The good the bad and the ugly” …

… and from the opposite direction in “Once upon a time in the west”.

These final locations conclude my Spaghetti Western movie history hunt. I got back onto the bike and back onto the highway. Up next was Granada.