Following in the footsteps of famous movies filmed in Andalusia, Spain

From Game of Thrones to Indiana Jones and numerous spaghetti Westerns, you might be surprised how many movies and television series have been shot in Andalusia in Spain.

It’s a great place to start if you’re production company location scouting for your next Western fantasy movie. If you want to make a film in Andalusia, I recommend contacting the Andalusia Filmcommision, which can help you. On their website, you can also see all the amazing locations.

But also, if you’re a regular cinema lover on a cultural trip, you should check out this Spanish Hollywood.

For those who don’t know, Andalusia (Andalucia in Spanish) is the southernmost region in Spain and holds provinces such as Almeria, Malaga, Granada, and Seville.

My in-laws own a small house in a little village (Pueblo) in the Sierra Nevada National Park, so my family and I decided to rent another small house and visit them this summer.

Being a movie buff, I decided to do an article about some of the film locations in the region. And I convinced my family that it was a great idea – under the guise of sightseeing trips, not work, of course – *ahem*.

In this article, you can see photos and videos from the locations and read about what movies were shot there.

Here’s the first video:

So, let’s dive in.

La Calahorra Castle

La Calahorra Castle (Castillo de La Calahorra) is a beautiful castle sitting atop a hill in the small town of La Calahorra, in the province of Granada. 

When you drive on the freeway, it looks impressive as it rises majestically 1250 meters above sea level from the surrounding town against the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

The castle was built between 1491 and 1512 on the ruins of a Moorish (Arab) fortress (the remains of the outer walls are from this fortress).

It’s built as a medieval fortress, with four huge round towers, but the inside is Renaissance with an elegant courtyard and staircase of Italian marble.

This is probably because the owner (and womanizer) at the time, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza (Marqués de Zenete), traveled to Italy after the death of his first wife, where he had an alleged love affair with Lucrezia Borgia.

In its basement, you can still see dark cells, which were used to transfer Moor prisoners, who were to be transferred to the Chancery of Granada.

La Calahorra Castle is a national monument, and until a few years ago, a family of caretakers still lived in it. It is under private ownership under the House of the Duke of the Infantado.

Still, unfortunately, the beautiful Renaissance interior is not being well-taken care of, with pigeon poop all over the place.

Movies and TV shows filmed at La Calahorra Castle

Here’s a list of movies filmed at La Calahorra Castle. As you can see, Spaghetti Westerns dominated the 1960s, with the comedic exploitation of the genre in the following decades.

The fantasy genre has moved in recently, with Assassin’s Creed (2016) and House of the Dragon (2022) – the Game of Thrones prequel spinoff – notable examples.

Movie Title	Year	Genre	Director	Starring
Action of the Tiger	1957	Action, Drama	Terence Young	Van Johnson
North West Frontier	1959	Adventure, Drama	J. Lee Thompson	Kenneth More
For a Few Dollars More	1965	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood
The Good The Bad And The Ugly	1966	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood
Death Rides A Horse	1967	Spaghetti Western	Giulio Petroni	Lee Van Cleef
Once Upon A time In The West	1968	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson
Kill The All and Come Back Alone	1968	Spaghetti Western	Enzo G. Castellari	Chuck Conners
A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof	1968	Comedy, Western	Giulio Petroni	Giuliano Gemma
The Price of Power	1969	Spaghetti Western	Tonino Valerii	Giuliano Gemma
Red Sun	1971	Spaghetti Western	Terence Young	Charles Bronson
Delusions of Grandeur	1971	Comedy	Gérard Oury	Louis de Funès
Blindman	1971	Spaghetti Western	Ferdinando Baldi	Tony Anthony, Ringo Starr, Lloyd Battista
Ben and Charlie (aka Amigo, Stay Away or Humpty Dumpty Gang)	1972	Spaghetti Western, Comedy	Michele Lupo	Giuliano Gemma
My Name is Nobody	1973	Spaghetti Western, Comedy	Tonino Valerii	Terence Hill, Henry Fonda
Stardust	1974	Drama, Music	Michael Apted	David Essex
The Man Called Noon	1973	Western, Drama	Peter Collinson	Richard Crenna, Stephen Boyd, Rosanna Schiaffino
The Four Musketeers	1974	Action, Adventure, Romance	Richard Lester	Michael York, Raquel Welch, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain
Blood Money	1974	Spaghetti Western, Comedy, Martial Arts	Antonio Margheriti	Lee Van Cleef, Lieh Lo
The Wind and the Lion	1975	Action, Adventure, Drama	John Milius	Sean Connery
March or Die	1977	Adventure, Drama, Romance	Dick Richards	Gene Hackman, Terence Hill, Catherine Deneuve, Max von Sydow
Lace	1984	Drama	William Hale	Bess Armstrong, Brooke Adams, Arielle Dombasle, Phoebe Gates
Rustlers’ Rhapsody	1985	Western, Comedy	Hugh Wilson	Tom Berenger
The White Room	1989	Drama	Bill Butt	Bill Drummond, Jimi Cauty, David Franks
Tirante el Blanco	2006	Adventure, Romance	Vicente Aranda	Caspar Zafer, Esther Nubiola, Leonor Watling, Ingrid Rubio
Denn sie kennen kein Erbarmen – Der Italowestern	2006	Documentary (about Spaghetti Western Movies)	Peter Dollinger, Hans-Jürgen Panitz	Ferdinando Baldi, Lars Bloch, Pierre Brice, Claudia Cardinale
Komodo B12	N/A	Zombie Horror, Thriller, Western	Jose Maria Castillo Lobato	Beatriz Rico, Susana Reche, Paco Roma, Alba Ferrara
Desgraciado	2015	Short	Jorge Onieva	Olga Garrido, Olga Gayevska, Ramón Machado
Assassin’s Creed	2016	Fantasy, Action, Adventure	Justin Kurzel	Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons
Emerald City	2016-17	Adventure, Drama, Fantasy television show	Tarsem Singh	Adria Arjona, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ana Ularu, Gerran Howell
The Gate: Dawn of the Baha’i Faith	2018	Documentary	Bob Hercules	Adam Mondschein
Inés del Alma Mía	2020	Drama	Alejandro Bazzano, Nicolás Acuña	Elena Rivera, Eduardo Noriega, Ismael Martínez, Nicolás Zárate
House of the Dragon | Episode: The Princess and the Queen	2022	Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Drama	Miguel Sapochnik	Rhys Ifans, Matt Smith, Graham McTavish

Here are some scenes shot in La Calahorra Castle from a couple of these movies:

Stardust (1974) – the retreat of Jim MacLaine:

House of the Dragon (2022) – the city of Pentos:

Assassin’s Creed (2016) – the introduction: 

La Calahorra Station and Flagstone

La Calahorra Railway Station (Estación de la Calahorra) lies not far from La Calahorra Castle, just on the other side of the freeway.

It’s a small whistle-stop-like station and feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere. While it’s still in use with four tracks, the train rarely stops there. I think it’s only used for freight trains these days.

But in 1968, La Calahorra Station was the location for one of the coolest opening scenes in cinema history, namely the arrival of Harmonica in the iconic movie Once Upon A Time In the West.

This blog shows some stills from Once Upon A Time In The West, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and For a Few Dollars More framed against the current ruins.

Also, check out this guide to the best western movies of all time.

You just don’t see film directors taking their time to build suspense in the same way these days:

In 1973, it was also used for The Man Called Noon, directed by Peter Collinson.

And just around the corner – only a few hundred meters – you’ll find the ruins of the town Flagstone from the same movie.

Not much is left today, but you can still see traces of the old set. My in-laws visited the set in the 1970s and should still have some old slides.

I hope to get the opportunity to get them digitalized and preserved for the future at one point.

Even though the station and the film set are decaying, the graffiti shows the love for the movie’s director and composer, i.e., Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone.

Las Tabernas Desert

The Tabernas Desert is located in Southern Spain, in the Almería province. It is one of the only true deserts in Europe, with an annual average rainfall below 250mm. The desert spans about 280 square kilometers and is protected as a nature reserve.

The Tabernas Desert is characterized by its unique landscape of dry riverbeds, rocky formations, and barren slopes, making it a perfect (and cheaper) filming location for movies in the old Wild West of the US or the Middle East. 

Because of this, Las Tabernas is one of Andalusia’s most popular filming locations, particularly for western films. Some of the most famous films shot there include “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and several of Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns.

Into Westerns? Check out the best Doc Holliday Quotes from Tombstone.

Also, Season 6 of the HBO series Game of Thrones was shot here, where the Tabernas desert was used to depict the Dothraki Sea in the desert gorges known as the Rambla del Cautivo and La Rambla del Buho near the village of Tabernas:

The desert is also home to “Oasys Mini Hollywood,” a Western-style theme park I’ll return to in a minute.

Notable movies and TV shows shot in the Tabernas desert near Almeria, Spain

Below are some notable movies and television shows shot in the Las Tabernas desert. The list is not complete since it’s a popular film location.

Movie Title	Year	Genre	Director	Starring
Lawrence of Arabia	1962	Epic Historical Drama	David Lean	Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
Cleopatra	1963	Epic Historical Drama	Joseph L. Mankiewicz	Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison
A Fistful of Dollars	1965	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch
The Good The Bad The Ugly	1966	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
Once Upon a Time in the West	1968	Spaghetti Western	Sergio Leone	Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale
Patton	1970	War	Franklin J. Schaffner	George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young
Trinity Is Still My Name	1971	Comedy Western	Enzo Barboni	Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Yanti Somer
Duck, You Sucker!	1972	War, Western	Sergio Leone	Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli
Conan the Barbarian	1982	Action, Adventure, Fantasy	John Milius	Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow
Neverending Story	1984	Adventure, Drama, Fantasy	Wolfgang Petersen	Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	1989	Action, Adventure	Steven Spielberg	Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
Winnetou Return	1998	Western	Marijan David Vajda	Pierre Brice, Candice Daly, Branko Spoljar
Dance of the Vampires	2001	Musical	Roman Polanski	Michael Crawford, David Hess, George Dvorsky
Lucky Luke and the Daltons	2004	Comedy, Adventure, Western	Philippe Haïm	Eric Judor, Ramzy Bedia, Saïd Serrari
Exodus: Gods and Kings	2014	Action, Drama, Adventure	Ridley Scott	Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
Game of Thrones – Season 6 – Episode 4	2016	Fantasy, Drama, Adventure	Daniel Sackheim	Emilia Clarke, Iain Glen, Staz Nair
Penny Dreadful	2014-2016	Drama, Horror, Fantasy	John Logan	Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton
The Crown	2016-2023	Drama, Biography, History	Peter Morgan	Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton
Brimstone	2016	Mystery, Thriller, Western	Martin Koolhoven	Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Kit Harington
Terminator: Dark Fate	2019	Action, Sci-Fi, Adventure	Tim Miller	Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis

Oasys Mini Hollywood – more than just a theme park

The next place I went was the Oasys Mini Hollywood. It is a Western-styled theme park located in the desert of Tabernas, Almería, Spain. It’s the perfect location for shooting Westerns.

Originally known as Yucca City, the film set was designed by Carlo Simi and built for Sergio Leone’s For a Few Dollars More (1965). It was also used as a set for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

The Doctor Who TV series episode “A Town Called Mercy” (2012) was filmed at Fort Bravo/Texas Hollywood, which is just around the corner (approximately 3 miles).

If you have to choose between the two locations, I’d say go for Oasys, because you get so much more for your money.

After filming The Good, the Bad And The Ugly, the extras in the project bought the set and ran it as a tourist attraction in the 1970s. My parents-in-law had visited it then; at that time, it was small and mostly facades. This has certainly changed – and for the better!

I was pleasantly surprised that this was more than a theme park or movie set facade. You can enter every building, and everything looks and feels authentic.

The park features several attractions, including live performances, a zoo for old retired animals, swimming pools, and a museum of Western film history.

It also has several replicas of Western-style buildings, such as a saloon, a jail, and a bank, which were used in many classic Western movies.

You can explore the sets, enjoy cowboy stunt shows, ride horses, and even dress up in period costumes for a truly immersive experience.

The park is popular among both local and international tourists, as well as film enthusiasts.

National and International productions can rent the place for shooting movies and commercials.

They also have beautiful old wagons and diligences, but I’m not sure if these are only for the museum or if you can rent them as movie props too.

I enjoyed the cine museum too, where you can see old movie projectors and other gear. Cool stuff!

Notable films and TV shows shot in Oasys Mini Hollywood

Movie Title	Year	Genre	Director	Starring
For a Few Dollars More	1965	Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volonté
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	1966	Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
Navajo Joe	1966	Western	Sergio Corbucci	Burt Reynolds, Aldo Sambrell, Nicoletta Machiavelli
Taste of Killing	1966	Western	Tonino Valerii	Craig Hill, Jorge Martín, Piero Lulli, Fernando Sancho
May God Forgive You… But I Won’t	1968	Western	Vincenzo Musolino	George Ardisson, Dragomir Bojanic-Gidra, Cristina Iosani
The Mercenary	1968	Western	Sergio Corbucci	Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Franco Giacobini
Ace High	1968	Western	Giuseppe Colizzi	Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Eli Wallach
The Ruthless Four	1968	Western	Giorgio Capitani	Van Heflin, Gilbert Roland, Klaus Kinski
Boot Hill	1969	Western	Giuseppe Colizzi	Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Woody Strode
Adiós, Sabata	1970	Action, Drama, War	Gianfranco Parolini	Yul Brynner, Dean Reed, Ignazio Spalla
‘Doc’	1971	Western	Frank Perry	Stacy Keach, Faye Dunaway, Harris Yulin
Hannie Caulder	1971	Western	Burt Kennedy	Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, Ernest Borgnine
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die	1972	Western	Tonino Valerii	James Coburn, Telly Savalas, Bud Spencer
Shanghai Joe	1973	Western	Mario Caiano	Chen Lee, Klaus Kinski, Gordon Mitchell
The Man Called Noon	1973	Western, Drama	Peter Collinson	Richard Crenna, Stephen Boyd, Rosanna Schiaffino
Blood Money	1974	Western, Comedy, Martial Arts	Antonio Margheriti	Lee Van Cleef, Lieh Lo
Cry, Onion	1975	Western	Enzo G. Castellari	Franco Nero, Sterling Hayden, Martin Balsam
The White, the Yellow, and the Black	1975	Western	Sergio Corbucci	Giuliano Gemma, Tomas Milian, Eli Wallach
Buddy Goes West	1981	Western	Michele Lupo	Bud Spencer, Joe Bugner
Peacemaker	2006	Action, Drama	Alex Pastor	José Luis Adserías, Enric Arquimbau, Felipe García Vélez
Doctor Who | Episode: A Town Called Mercy	2012	Adventure, Drama, Family	Saul Metzstein	Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
Stop Over in Hell	2016	Crime, Horror, Thriller	Víctor Matellano	Fernando Valdivielso, Pablo Scola, Karlos Klaumannsmoller, Elvira Moliterno
Lost in the West	2016	Western, Family	Carlos González	Nicholas Coombe, Michael Garza, Fallon Smythe
The Greatest Gift	2018	Drama	Juan Manuel Cotelo	Santi Rodríguez, Daniel Ruizar, Joe Gómez
That Dirty Black Bag	2022-	Western, Drama	Mauro Aragoni, Brian O’Malley	Dominic Cooper, Douglas Booth, Niv Sultan

Guadix Station

The next stop on my movie location trip was Guadix Station.

Guadix Station is located in the city of Guadix, in the province of Granada, Spain. Guadix is known for its cave houses, but the station is what I came for.

The station building features traditional Spanish architecture, old-world charm, and historic architecture, making it a popular location for period films.

Notable movies shot at Guadix Station

Guadix Station has been used as a filming location for several movies, most notably for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” representing the fictional Iskenderun Station in Hatay.

Movie Title	Year	Genre	Director	Starring
North West Frontier	1959	Adventure, Drama	J. Lee Thompson	Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, Herbert Lom
Diego Corrientes	1959	Adventure, Drama, Musical	Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi	José Suárez, Marisa de Leza, Eulália del Pino
Doctor Zhivago	1965	Drama, Romance, War	David Lean	Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin
For a Few Dollars More	1965	Drama, Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Gian Maria Volontè
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	1966	Adventure, Western	Sergio Leone	Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef
Navajo Joe	1966	Drama, Western	Sergio Corbucci	Burt Reynolds, Aldo Sambrell, Nicoletta Machiavelli
Death Rides a Horse	1967	Drama, Western	Giulio Petroni	Lee Van Cleef, John Phillip Law, Mario Brega
A Bullet for the General	1967	Action, Western	Damiano Damiani	Gian Maria Volontè, Klaus Kinski, Martine Beswick
Man, Pride & Vengeance	1967	Action, Drama, Romance	Luigi Bazzoni	Tina Aumont, Franco Nero, Klaus Kinski
Once Upon a Time in the West	1968	Western	Sergio Leone	Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale
A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof	1968	Comedy, Western	Giulio Petroni	Giuliano Gemma, Mario Adorf, Magda Konopka
100 Rifles	1969	Adventure, Drama, War	Tom Gries	Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds
Tepepa	1969	Action, Adventure, Drama	Giulio Petroni	Tomas Milian, Orson Welles, John Steiner
The Price of Power	1969	Drama, Western	Tonino Valerii	Giuliano Gemma, Warren Vanders, María Cuadra
Duck, You Sucker!	1971	Drama, War, Western	Sergio Leone	Rod Steiger, James Coburn, Romolo Valli
Delusions of Grandeur	1971	Adventure, Comedy, History	Gérard Oury	Louis de Funès, Yves Montand, Alice Sapritch
Pancho Villa	1972	Action, Biography, Comedy	Eugenio Martín	Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Chuck Connors
Ben and Charlie	1972	Comedy, Western	Michele Lupo	Giuliano Gemma, George Eastman, Vittorio Congia
The Man Called Noon	1973	Drama, Mystery, Western	Peter Collinson	Richard Crenna, Stephen Boyd, Rosanna Schiaffino
Blood Money	1974	Comedy, Western	Antonio Margheriti	Lee Van Cleef, Lieh Lo, Patty Shepard
A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe	1975	Comedy, Western	Damiano Damiani	Terence Hill, Miou-Miou, Robert Charlebois
The White, the Yellow, and the Black	1975	Western, Adventure, Comedy	Sergio Corbucci	Giuliano Gemma, Tomas Milian, Eli Wallach
Reds	1981	Biography, Drama, History	Warren Beatty	Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann
The Exterminators of the Year 3000	1983	Action, Sci-Fi	Giuliano Carnimeo	Robert Iannucci, Alicia Moro, Luciano Pigozzi
A Man Called Rage	1984	Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi	Tonino Ricci	Bruno Minniti, Stelio Candelli, Werner Pochath
Rustlers’ Rhapsody	1985	Comedy, Western	Hugh Wilson	Tom Berenger, G.W. Bailey, Marilu Henner
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade	1989	Action, Adventure	Steven Spielberg	Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody
The White Room	1989	Drama	Bill Butt	Bill Drummond, Jimi Cauty, David Franks
The Mule	2013	Adventure, Comedy, Drama	Michael Radford, Sebastien Grousset	Mario Casas, María Valverde, Antonio Gil
Poveda	2016	Biography, Drama, History	Pablo Moreno	Ainhoa Aldanondo, Alejandro Arroyo, Miguel Berlanga

Summary

Southern Spain and the Andalusian provinces are great places for film fans because so many feature films and recent shows are being shot there, making it a great place for culture trips. 

There’s a good chance that the beautiful and warm Spanish landscapes and cultural heritage sites have been the film location for one of your favorite scenes without you even knowing it.

I only stayed near Guadix and the Almeria province this time, but there are many other places I plan to visit. 

Fx, did you know that Kingdom of Heaven (2005), starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, and Liam Neeson, was shot in Seville’s Casa de Pilatos and Alcázar?

And that the latter also was the location for Mission Impossible 2, starring Tom Cruise, Star Wars: Episode VII, and Game of Thrones Season 5?

Into Star Wars? Check out this guide to lightsaber colors.

You could make a whole trip just visiting locations for Game of Thrones in Andalucia, with places such as Mesa Roldán Tower, The Alcazaba of Almeria, and the Osuna Bullring being some of the main points of interest.

And did you know that the city of Almeria itself has been the place for not only Westerns but also the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983) starring Sean Connery?

I’ve only scratched the surface of Andalucia, but I can see why all kinds of directors take to this fascinating landscape. I hope to visit more of these places and walk in the footsteps of the actors – whom I envy – the next time I go there.

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