What do spaghetti Westerns and the Andalucia region of Almeria have in common? More than you’d think, cowboy, more than you’d think. Europe’s only desert is in arid Almeria, the driest part of the continent and containing the cacti-laden landscape of Tabernas, where ‘Western’ towns for film sets have sprung up over the years. Seen A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly? Then you’ll know what we mean.
Quite apart from the fact that an immediate trip to the Dollars trilogy set is the perfect pressie for Westerns film fans, a holiday in Almeria is a tiptop choice for a Spanish trip. Camping in Almeria is probably the likeliest spot in Europe for tents that are dry always, while most Almeria campsites are within lassoing distance of piles of other options like seeing the stars from the Calar Alto Observatory in the Sierra de Los Filabres, watersports and fishing at Roquetas de Mar, or joining the half million smart people annually visiting the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, teeming with wildlife in its desert climate. You dig?
