Filabres-Tabernas

Why visit Filabres-Tabernas

Filabres-Tabernas stretches north of Almería city from the Tabernas Desert up to the pine-clad ridges of the Sierra de los Filabres. The lowlands are among the driest places in Europe, a maze of gullies and bare, eroded hills that film-makers have used as a stand-in for the American West since the 1960s. Higher up, villages such as Velefique, Senés and Castro de Filabres cling to steep slopes, and the summit of Calar Alto is home to a major astronomical observatory. To the east, Sorbas perches above a river gorge on the edge of unusual gypsum karst. It suits film fans, cyclists, cavers and lovers of stark, open scenery.

Main attractions in Filabres-Tabernas

Tabernas is the base for the Western film sets of Oasys MiniHollywood and Fort Bravo, built for the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s and still used for filming, as well as the ruins of a Moorish castle and walks into the protected desert landscape. Near Sorbas, the Karst en Yesos de Sorbas natural site has hundreds of gypsum caves that visitors can explore on guided caving trips, and the town itself keeps a tradition of pottery. Road cyclists come for the hairpin climb to Velefique, which has featured in the Vuelta a España, and for the long ascent to Calar Alto. Lucainena de las Torres keeps relics of its iron-mining past, including the route of an old mineral railway. Local food is simple and filling, with migas, gurullos and olive oil from the Tabernas area.