Spaghetti Western Locations

Continuing with locations from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. After passing through the checkpoint at Apache Canyon, Tuco and Blondie arrive at Mission San Antonio. This mission is actually Cortijo Del Fraile built in the 18th century. The location was the site of a murder called the ‘Crime of Nijar’ and was the inspiration for the book “Blood Wedding” written by Lorca. It was only used for the exterior shots while the interiors were filmed near the location of the battle for the bridge and will be shown in a later posting. The dirt road to the left of the photo above leads to Los Albaricoques (Agua Caliente). Even though this mission is a Spanish historical location and part of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, it continues to fall into disrepair to say the least. Several walls have fallen, the roof which was used as the location site for the prison where El Indio escaped from in “For a Few Dollars More” has collapsed, and still the Spanish government has done nothing to stabilize the building or reconstruct it. Truly one of the best locations in all of the genre seems destined to disappear into a pile of rubble shortly.

For a more detailed view of this site and other Spaghetti Western locations please visit my friend Yoshi “Garringo” Yasuda’s excellent website: http://garringo.cool.ne.jp/

I’ve included a short video link to see the plight that Cortijo Del Fraile is in today and the attempt by local Spaniards to call attention to the government for help in restoring this historic site.
YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laCeJEFR2RQ