By Eric Ortiz (@EricOrtizG)
The locations in Almería are so iconic in the history of westerns that Quentin Tarantino directly referenced this Spanish place in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019), when actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) has his European adventure.
“During the sixties, the major production companies had to invest their earnings in Spain, so they searched for the spaces and found them,” recalled Piluca Querol, the director of the Andalucía Film Commission, and added that “Clint Eastwood films (Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy) were shot in Almería, a poor, desert area, that was suddenly invaded by the big production companies and the big movie stars.”
The now mythical Almería is only a part of the community of Andalucía, which is, in the words of Quirol, “a huge region, larger than many European countries, with an enormous diversity, fantastic communications, technical and artistic talent, and production and service companies that know how to work with productions of any scale.”
Presently, the Andalucía Film Commission attends around 1,500 projects a year, including genre films and series. Something that makes the region so attractive is the rich variety of locations. This is how Querol explained it: “We have the largest desert in Europe, the Tabernas desert. We have castles, monuments and Arab palaces, like the Alcazaba. In Huelva we have incredible mining spaces that have also been the scenarios for fantastic productions such as Before the Fall (3 días, 2008) by F. Javier Gutiérrez, an Andalusian director who also triumphed with The Wait (La espera, 2023) – The Wait screened at Fantastic Fest and Mórbido Fest in 2023 –.”
In the last decade, Andalucía has continued to host huge American productions. Querol said that they “worked a lot on the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. We are used to big productions, at that time we had just attended Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014). But in the case of Game of Thrones, it was the first time that we faced a big series, with a team that had already been working together for four seasons. They were surprised because there were many more locations here. Very exceptional things were done to incorporate new locations that were great for their production. In Córdoba we have incredible Roman and ruinous spaces. In Sevilla there’s that bull ring that became the Meereen arena, as well as the Alcázar palace. These are bucolic and fantastic places.”
Other remarkable genre films and shows that have been recently shot in Andalucía include: La mujer dormida (2024), Nato 0. El origen del mal (2023), Venom: The Last Dance (2024), Black Mirror, 1992, En fin, and Kaos. Two important series, Max’s Cuando nadie nos ve and Netflix’s El refugio atómico, are currently in production there.
With the Destino de Cine project, the Andalucía Film Commission also offers “film routes,” which allow both fans and professionals to visit the places where a good number of film and television classics were shot. About this project, Querol commented the following: “It’s a very interesting way to travel and also to work, to know those references and take it into account for new productions. Many teams end up becoming travelers too, great figures who have finished their shoot have stayed in Andalucía, inviting their families and friends for tourism.
“We have the Pedro Almodóvar route. Almodóvar identifies that Andalucía becomes an essential character in some of his stories. On the 50th anniversary of Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, we presented in Italy this iconic and wonderful route that’s still very current. Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) were also filmed in Almería – these movies are part of the Fantasy Andalucía route –.”
In addition to continuing to celebrate the region’s rich film and television history, the Andalucía Film Commission has clear objectives regarding current productions. “Attracting big productions is the main mission of a film commission, but it’s also important for us to promote the technical and artistic talent that can be found here in Andalucía, in all aspects of the production, from the script to post-production and special effects. It continues to be a very competitive and professional place,” Querol concluded.
For additional information, visit the website of the Andalucía Film Commission.