Ephemeral sets and film tourism, the eternal debate

Ephemeral architecture is the art or technique of designing and constructing buildings that are temporary, short-lived, and especially characterized by the poor quality of their materials.

Almeriacine

By Juanen Pérez Miranda

March 20, 2024

The completion of the filming of the French series 'Zorro' and the demolition, a few days later, of the spectacular sets built in the area of El Chorrillo, Pechina, has met with strong opposition among cinephiles and fans of film tourism.

Undoubtedly, the disappearance of these sets is bad news, but rather than joining in the complaints, demonstrations of indignation and even pointing the finger of guilt, cases like this should first lead us to ask ourselves an extensive list of questions whose answers are not easy at all. That's why it's such a complicated and controversial topic.

In this case, as in other similar events that have taken place in this land of cinema, we let ourselves be carried away by the sentimental and desirable, without stopping to ask ourselves numerous questions. These sets, like most of them, have been built on a private estate. Does the preservation of the sets benefit the owners at all? Who would bear the alleged costs of maintenance and surveillance? Who would be responsible for damages or accidents that hypothetically visitors to the sets would suffer? And in the institutional sphere, would the municipality in which the decorations are located derive any benefit from the visits? Who would regulate and control access to the private estate?

The sets of 'Zorro', moreover, are of a greater volume and height than other nearby ones with which we inevitably compare this case. This particularity makes them even more prone to deterioration by meteorological agents (wind, rain). This, together with the indiscriminate access of people, cinephiles or not, lovers of film tourism or not, and isolated cases of vandalism, surely makes the place dangerous after a while.

But the conservation of some sets has already been carried out, with evident success, a hundred meters from this same place. That's right, in December 2013 we were all surprised that after the filming of 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' (Ridley Scott, 2014) they razed all the sets built except for the small ghetto, which has given us so much joy looking back ten years. The ghetto, which no one can explain why they left standing, has seen productions such as 'Game of Thrones' (2016), Brandariz's peculiar biblical trilogy, 'Brussel' (2017), numerous television programs, music videos or the most recent 'Road to Bethlehem' (2023) and 'Zorro' (premiering at the end of 2024) parade through its streets.

But between shoots, the ghetto has suffered periods of complete neglect and ruin, as we see in these images from May and December 2019.

Each new production has meant a rebirth for the ghetto, which has seen its houses and streets renovated and reinvents itself for a new stage of subsistence. The last impulse, with the series 'Zorro'.

Almeria is fortunate to have consolidated over time several sets, which were also "ephemeral" at their birth due to the way they were built. Saved by the continuity of filming and by the tourist exploitation, and also thanks to the commitment of their owners, today we continue to enjoy the towns of Oasys-Minihollywood, Fort Bravo and Western Leone, something that cannot be said in Madrid or Catalonia. But many, many others were not so lucky and ended up disappearing. We all know cases such as the ruins of the Poblado Mimbrero, which are still there because they are in a very isolated place; several forts that were eventually dismantled; the town of Nueva Frontera, whose owners ended up demolishing to avoid continuous incursions into their paintball player farm; the imposing castle in 'The Mystery of Wells' (2003), which wanted to buy a company but the Environment prevented it, or the fortress El Cóndor, which after its last appointment with cinema, 'Honolulu Baby' (2001) does not stop gradually falling apart and today is only a dangerous ruin. I wish it wasn't like that, but the owners of El Condor have no tourist or cinematographic interest.

Are we going back to the exemplary example of the surviving ghetto of 'Exodus'? Why wouldn't the same happen with the beautiful buildings they've built for 'Zorro'? Quite simply, because no one can guarantee that before the walls of the town hall or the casino begin to threaten to fall – or fall on someone – there will be some new filming that is interested, that uses them as they are or modified.

We can accuse the owners of the El Chorrillo estate, the Pechina town council, and the Almeria Provincial Council of lack of tourist vision, but what is evident in this case is that the owners of El Chorrillo have gotten rid of a problem. The huge estate on which the historic houses of El Chorrillo are located, which were a mining train station at the beginning of the 20th century, has had an urban development project for about fifteen years and, with this plan now free of legal complications, it is for sale waiting for investors who would totally transform the place. Although its cinematographic history goes back many years, the boom of important shoots that followed 'Exodus' does not confuse the real objective of the property: to sell for urbanization.

Here is an article by Manuel León in La Voz de Almería, October 2022. The property is still for sale.

This case of the 'Zorro' sets has the aggravating factor that fans have practically not had time to see the sets. Filming ended on a Thursday and the next day all the props were being removed and on Monday the shootdowns began. Less than a week later, nothing remains of the buildings.

Leaving aside the visceral and the search for culprits, we can only think of, from coherence, an intermediate solution that may be valid for future similar cases, which hopefully will abound. It would be an attempt at a temporary agreement between the Provincial Council of Almeria (Filming Almeria, Turismo Costa de Almeria) and the owners, to take charge of access and surveillance for a few weeks and thus allow hundreds of people to contemplate the sets, who would undoubtedly come, in the same way that so many people have visited the ghetto of 'Exodus' and 'Game of Thrones'.

Temporary solution and then the inevitable demolition? Better that than nothing.

Hopefully we will learn for the future, with interest on each other's part.