Two glorious crooks - on the film set!

The Sierra de la Demanda is part of the Iberian Mountains, with peaks over 2000m high. The area is sparsely populated and belongs to Serranía Celtiberia, also known as Spanish Lapland, with infertile soil, cold and snowy winters. It is a disadvantaged mountain region recognized by the EU, with about 8 people per square kilometer.

In the often 1000m high villages, only a few can make a living from agriculture.

Tourism has barely arrived. There are a few ski resorts and good hiking opportunities. There is little hustle and bustle at the reservoirs, on weekends families from the surrounding area spread out on the sandy shores.

The mountains are partly green and forested, scented pines and thick old oaks grow in dense undergrowth.

However, when a fire has raged, the picture changes abruptly. Suddenly, our path ends in a black desert. Charred trees, dark ashes, burnt earth as far as the eye can see. The heavy smell of fire still hangs in the air, the world is bleak. The sight of the dead trees is truly shocking and makes me feel melancholic. The flames have raged up to the village, the sad image accompanies us for many kilometers. Only at the next mountain peak does the world turn green again.

What is terrible is that in most cases arson or carelessness are the causes. The fireplaces at the picnic areas are all closed, fires are no longer welcome here.

Rugged table mountains rise in the barren landscape and we almost feel like we are in Arizona. We are not the only ones who were impressed by the sight of the proud rises, Sergio Leone has also immortalized himself here. For 'Two Glorious Crooks,' Spanish soldiers dug up 5000 burial mounds from the ground. Secretly, we wonder how the director negotiated that with the still reigning Franco at the time.

The 'Sad Hill' can be reached via a dusty bumpy road. There is a lot going on here for the area, even at 8:00 p.m. people are making noise among the graves, which were unearthed a few years ago by a local association. It is quite crazy, an unreal setting and many gringos cannot resist drawing their imaginary revolvers. Dark, threatening clouds complete the atmosphere, and you feel like you're in the Wild West. Where is the saloon with the gold seekers, and what will the sheriff do when the next shootout begins?

Muffled thunder announces a threatening thunderstorm scene, thick clouds tower over the mountains around us, and the first lightning flashes across the horizon. That chases away the last cowboys from Sad Hill, but it's too late for really convincing photos.

We spend the night at the cemetery, the storm passes by us, only a few raindrops smudge the dust on the hideout.

In the early morning hours, Zappa wants to capture the low-standing sun rays that cast light on the crosses. There are no other gringos around yet.

But soon, grumbling thunderclouds move back over the mountains, and the graves disappear into the gray uniformity.

In a valley a few kilometers away, for the filming, 400 kilos of TNT were detonated to capture the inferno of a dam explosion with huge explosions and fireballs, filmed with 12 cameras. They didn't have digital video animations back then.

After our adventure in the semi-desert of Tabernas three years ago, we watched 'A Fistful of Dollars',

https://vakantio.de/chateaugeschichten/adios-au-revoir-und-gute-nacht

now we have to watch this Eastwood as well.