They mark the path of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

 

Diario de Burgos

December 8, 2020

The six-kilometer stretch between Sad Hill (Contreras) and Carazo, passing through the Betterville Prison Camp, has been marked thanks to Caja de Burgos and la Caixa 

The route existed, and there were even diptychs advertising it, but it was not enough: people often got lost or disoriented. And it was not a plan, especially with the wonderful movement that a group of enthusiasts has created around the film of “The good, the Bad and the Ugly” in the Castilian far west, the Arlanza region, that has become a tourist and cultural reference of the first magnitude although the administrations, always so slow on reflexes, have not realized it yet. But thanks to the Caja de Burgos Foundation and Obra Social la Caixa the 'BFM Route' is already marked as God commands in a first section: between the mythical Sad Hill Cemetery, located in Contreras, and Carazo, in whose surroundings it was located to Leone's movie Betterville Prison Camp.

This week, volunteers from the Sad Hill Association have helped each other mark the route thanks to the help aimed at environmental volunteering that the aforementioned institutions gave to the project, subsidized with 2,000 euros with the philosophy that the route connects people with nature, for which the BFM fulfilled all the requirements by being fully in the Arlanza sabinares and also joining two film sets. "The idea is that people can walk the route on foot or by bicycle following the milestones so that no one gets lost. Until now, many people have asked us and it’s not always that simple to give directions or accompany people," explain members of the group.

Halfway along this path, although closer to Carazo, a landmark has been located that makes a nod to another film shot in the area, “El Valle de las Espadas”, a 1963 film without which “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” would never have been recorded, since Sergio Leone fell in love with the area when he saw the exteriors of that movie.

“We believe that there is nowhere else such a path; a specific route that, taking advantage of the cinematographic resource and by means of beacons, guides whoever does it through such a formidable natural landscape. We are sure that there is no similar cinematographic path, "they explain. But they do not want to stop there, and their goal is to be able to do the same in the future and connect this path with the other two locations: San Pedro de Arlanza and the Langstone bridge.