Fraga, its effect on the 'far west'

 

Between 1965 and 1972, around thirty western movies were shot in Baix Cinca

Fraga, its effect on the 'far west'

That the Segria is the Plana de Lleida is relative. The Baix Segre (and the Baix Cinca, on the other side of the administrative border) is dominated by a landscape of rocky mountains, dusty roads, dry bushes and large rivers. In the sixties, the producers of 'spaghetti westerns' took good note of these exteriors and turned Fraga and its surroundings into a Far West as Salvador Giné from Lleida rescues from oblivion in an extensive article published today by Sapiens.

A.S.M.

LLEIDA

The Barranc de las Bales, between Fraga and Seros, owes its name to a bloody battle in the (Spanish) Civil War. Its original name is the Barranc de Matacanyes. It seemed logical to recover the placename as the conflict was further away in time, but it has not been like that because the bullets were once again the main protagonists of this arid landscape in the sixties and seventies. This time, however, they were blanks. Salvador Giné from Lleida tells it in the article Fraga, Ciutat sense ilei published today by the magazine Sapiens, Between 1965 and 1972 two film production companies based in Barcelona, Balcazar and IFI shot about sixty spaghetti westerns. Almeria was far away and Texas, even further. But the surroundings of Faga were quite similar to them. The Sorolla hotel in the capital of Baix Cinca became the center of operations. There were long lines of people who wanted to play Indians (literally). The peasants and the gypsies were the favorites. Their skin was tanned by the sun and they didn't give the make-up guys much work to do. In the article now published by the magazine Sapiens there are testimonies of extras from Fraga, Seros, Massalcoreig and even from Lleida, from where buses were chartered. The stars were housed in the capital of Segria, in the Palace (now Lleida as Pal les). They were actors like Richard Harrison and Robert Woods. In total, about thirty western movies were shot. “Gunmen of Arizona”, “Five Guns from Texas” and “Oklahoma John” are, paradoxically, some of those titles. Salvador Giné has dedicated a lot of time to recover information from this time. “People are not worried about knowing what movie they participated in, nor the director. In other cases the problem was that time has elapsed, because the protagonists had already died”. One of the testimonies with which Giné was told has been Pedro Federa, 'el Rubio'. He had worked in a circus and his stunts made him a stuntman for twenty-eight films. He was from Lleida and used to earn a thousand pesetas a day plus extras (1,500 a fall from a horse, for example). A lot of money. So much so that he came to settle in Farga. When he was not filming, he was dedicated to masonry. In 1972 the last spaghetti western was shot and Federa, who was bitten by the bug, dedicated himself to making travel log movies in Baix Segre and Baix Cinca. Other curious anecdotes that Giné has been able to rescue from oblivion is that on the cover of the film. “Viva Carrancho” you can see the Cardell fragatina hermitage. “There is little that remains of those exteriors. because time and erosion have greatly modified that landscape”

Entre1965 y 1972 se rodaron una treintena de peliculas del oeste en el Baix Cinca

Fraga, con efe de ‘far west’

Eso de que el Segria es la Plana de Lleida es relative. El Baix Segre (y el Baix Cinca, al otro lado de le frontera administrativa) esta dominado por un paisaje de sierras rocosas, caminos polvorientos, arbustos secos y grandes rios. En los sesenta, las productoras de ‘espagueti western’ tomaron buena nota de estos exteriores y convirtieron Fraga y alrededores en un Far West a medida que rescata del olvido el leridano Salvador Gine en un amplio articulo que publica hoy ‘Sapiens’.

[Salvador Giné, from Lleida, spent years investigating until he found evidence of the filming.]

The Barranc de las Bales, between Fraga and Seros, owes its name to a bloody battle in the (Spanish) Civil War. Its original name is the Barranc de Matacanyes. It seemed logical to recover the placename as the conflict was further away in time, but it has not been like that because the bullets were once again the main protagonists of this arid landscape in the sixties and seventies. This time, however, they were blanks. Salvador Giné from Lleida tells it in the article Fraga, Ciutat sense ilei published today by the magazine Sapiens, Between 1965 and 1972 two film production companies based in Barcelona, Balcazar and IFI shot about sixty spaghetti westerns. Almeria was far away and Texas, even further. But the surroundings of Faga were quite similar to them. The Sorolla hotel in the capital of Baix Cinca became the center of operations. There were long lines of people who wanted to play Indians (literally). The peasants and the gypsies were the favorites. Their skin was tanned by the sun and they didn't give the make-up guys much work to do. In the article now published by the magazine Sapiens there are testimonies of extras from Fraga, Seros, Massalcoreig and even from Lleida, from where buses were chartered. The stars were housed in the capital of Segria, in the Palace (now Lleida as Pal les). They were actors like Richard Harrison and Robert Woods. In total, about thirty western movies were shot. “Gunmen of Arizona”, “Five Guns from Texas” and “Oklahoma John” are, paradoxically, some of those titles. Salvador Giné has dedicated a lot of time to recover information from this time. “People are not worried about knowing what movie they participated in, nor the director. In other cases the problem was that time has elapsed, because the protagonists had already died”. One of the testimonies with which Giné was told has been Pedro Federa, 'el Rubio'. He had worked in a circus and his stunts made him a stuntman for twenty-eight films. He was from Lleida and used to earn a thousand pesetas a day plus extras (1,500 a fall from a horse, for example). A lot of money. So much so that he came to settle in Farga. When he was not filming, he was dedicated to masonry. In 1972 the last spaghetti western was shot and Federa, who was bitten by the bug, dedicated himself to making travel log movies in Baix Segre and Baix Cinca. Other curious anecdotes that Giné has been able to rescue from oblivion is that on the cover of the film. “Viva Carrancho” you can see the Cardell fragatina hermitage. “There is little that remains of those exteriors. because time and erosion have greatly modified that landscape”