Tabernas - Where Men are Men - July 2006

Tabernas

In the 1960's Hollywood decided that the desert area around Tabernas near Almeria was a much more realistic setting for westerns than any place in America so they arrived and built a western town complete with a fort, a Mexican village and an Indian village. Actors like Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda and Lee Van Cleef rode the plains, drank and played cards in the saloon and fought it out on the main street. Today the sets are still used occasionally for advertisements and films but the main attraction at Fort Bravo, Texas Hollywood, is the opportunity for grown men, and women, to act out their cowboy fantasies.

For 9 Euros you can hire a horse and follow the trail of the Man With No Name, accompanied by suitable background music composed by Sierra Leone played over the outdoor speaker system. The cowboys in the white hats watching you through slit eyes as you pass by are the bad guys - don't be tempted to steal the horse. At 12.30pm and 2.30pm take a beer in the saloon. You may well become involved in the live entertainment, all the guns fire blanks but you can never be sure.

Returning to reality, Fort Bravo is open 10am to 6pm daily. Entrance is 14.50 Euros for adults and 9.50 Euros for children. To obtain best value arrive just before the first show, have lunch in the chow house and then see the second show. Apart from wandering round the sets there is not a great deal for the younger child, it's definitely a man place but just down the road there is another attraction, Oasys.

Oasys - For the Family

At Oasys you are treated to a somewhat more realistic western town film set than Fort Bravo. The buildings are used to provide a background for the history of film making in the region including nostalgic posters, photographs and examples of the cameras and lighting and sound equipment. The 'Yellow Rose' saloon provides regular shows including Can Can girls and in the main square there are western shows, here the bad guys wear black hats. There is also a zoological park and a full restaurant. Entrance is 17 Euros for adults and 9 Euros for children under 12 years old.