Western

As a little boy growing up in the 70s, the most exciting thing you could see on film was "Wild West films". Series such as The MacCahan Family and High Chaparall. Movies with Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. What I didn't know until very recently is that a lot of Western films and also other famous films were made in the Spanish desert outside Almeria. The journey there is 23 miles and takes about 2 hours 40 minutes.

 

It began in the mid-60s when Sergio Leone began creating what came to be known as the Spaghetti Western*. With movies like "A Fistful of Dollars", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "The Trinity Movies" and many, many more.

Mainly three western towns were used for the filming; Oasys Mini Hollywood, Texas Hollywood and Western Leone.

In the immediate area, Indiana Jones has also fought with Nazis, and parts of Game of Thrones have been created.

 

The desert itself is amazing. Like being transported to another world. And for me like ending up in the middle of the western movies of my childhood.

We chose to visit Oasys Mini Hollywood, which is the largest western town and was created in 1965. It would be easy to draw a comparison with the fantastic Swedish theme park High Chaparall, but there are some big differences. High Chaparall is fantastic fun as both children and adults dress up and play western together. While Oasys Mini Hollywood is more visitors walking around and observing the old classic movie sets. The western city itself is also larger than the Swedish one. It feels like a completely complete city with everything that was there; shops, saloon, hotel, sheriff's office with jail, courthouse, railroad, funeral home, gallows hill, restaurants, gold mine and more. The cool thing is the feeling of a real city and above all the surroundings with the desert in all directions.

Oasys Mini Hollywood also has a large zoo and a water park.

*Spaghetti Western is a name for Western films that were produced and directed by Italians in the 1960s and 1970s.

 

A fantastic excursion both for adults and families with children.

https://www.oasysparquetematico.com/en

 

Text & image: PeO Axelsson & Jaana Wadstedt