Desert of Tabernas Natural Area

Desert of Tabernas Natural Area

The Tabernas desert lies to the north of the town of Almería between the mountains of los Filabres and Alhamilla, and occupies some 11,625 hectares. This natural area is considered to be the only true desert in the whole of the European continent.

The scenery is startling. The annual rainfall here does not exceed 250mm and the year-round average temperature is over 17 degrees.

No wonder that Italian director Sergio Leone made the so-called Spaghetti westerns, starring the young American actor Clint Eastwood, here in the mid 60's. (For a fistful of dollars, or for a few dollars more, he had the good, the bad and the ugly.) There are still some original film sets about but now in very dilapidated condition. Some have been rebuilt and fun Wild West shows are performed on a daily basis for the tourists who are bussed up from the coastal resorts.

In the desert only plants known as xerophytes (plants like cactus, that are able to live in very dry places) or parasitic plants grow. Salt cedar and oleander do grow in some dry gullies, however, and brushwood grows where it can find nitrogen-rich soil.

Fuente: www.andalucia.com