Western Leone is the last of the three tourist attractions in Tabernas. It is north of Mini Hollywood on the same expressway. Look for the billboards directing you to the location. The owners have added a set of buildings and a small Indian village to make it a viable tourist attraction. The only building worth seeing is the house used in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. It has been converted into a saloon and you can buy a beer or a soda and sit at a table and look at the binders they have of photos taken of different films which used this location. They also have a stunt show and when I was there in 2003 it was the exact show used at Texas Hollywood. Still it's a thrill to walk through the same door as Charles Bronson, Jason Robards and Claudia Cardinale. Infact what looks like the original stove Jill and Cheyenne prepared coffee over sits on the front porch.
This one was one tourist trap too far for me. Having stumped up for Mini Hollywood and Texas Hollywood my wallet just wouldn't stand another hit so we looked at the house from the road instead. Not ideal, but to be honest the entrance fee is just too high for the sake of one house. Pity, as it's a house I would have liked to get close to.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why these sites don't link up, pool their resources and offer a multi entrance ticket deal. There sure wasn't many people there when we went. Most seem to go to Mini Hollywood (or Oasys as it's called now) and skip the others.
I totally agree. This is the least of the 3 sites and I'm sure this is why they added the rest of the buildings to make a larger facility. I commented to Don and Marla, "What Almeria needs is a good Public Relations Department". They could really make something out of what is there. They could conduct day tours, stop at all three of the tourist sites and visit other locations which can be driven to by a van or small bus. Instead of trying to tie themselves to American Westerns they have their own heritage and should be proud of it and show it off it to the public.
ReplyDelete