Only desert in Europe: Wild West in Spain

Anyone wishing to experience the Wild West at first hand must not fly for a special trip to America! A trip to southern Spain in the desert of Taberna or in Spanish Desierto de Tabernas is enough.

Here, extending to almost 300 square kilometers, there are sand dunes, amazing rugged hills with deep ravines and a desert vegetation and atmosphere, as it was found elsewhere only in the deep wild west.

Filming locations of many films can be visited

This was apparently also for the makers of many western movies like Clint Eastwood. The filmmakers build up  several scenes of Western cities with banks and saloons in Taberna, which are preserved almost today and can still be visited. Among others, the films "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Dance of the Vampires" and "Winnetou's Return" emerged here.  From the middle of the last century, the place is regularly used for filming, because of the unmistakable similarity to the southwestern United States and because the productions are much cheaper than the original places of course.

Walking on the ocean floor

Millions of years ago, in the area of the desert, there were foothills of the Mediterranean. Therefore, we can still find plenty of sand and shells on the floor. Since the area is cut off by the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, Sierra Alhamila and Sierra Filabres almost completely, it never really comes to rainfall and temperatures are high throughout the year and in summer can often reach 50 degrees.

Worth a visit

The desert Taberna is not only through the opportunity to see the old western venues worth a visit. Also the unusual atmosphere and the extraordinary landscape for Europe makes this journey to a different kind of Spain an unforgettable trip.