In the late 1960s, Italian director Sergio Leone arrived in the province of Almería to film Once Upon a Time in the West. He was stunned by the landscape, but the desert alone was not enough: his production team built a set designed by Carlo Simi that included several buildings and a railway. It was christened Rancho Leone and subsequently hosted many other shoots for the legendary spaghetti westerns, as well as television series, music videos and advertising campaigns. Pedro Almodóvar also passed through there in 2023 to film Strange Way of Life with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Today, this location — falling into disrepair due to poor upkeep — is for sale at 1.6 million euros. "We're getting older, we're tired. It had a wonderful period, but we can no longer manage all of this," says Genara Rubio, manager and owner of the property, speaking at the entrance to the site.
Western Leone is tucked away in a Martian landscape beside the Verdelecho ravine, just off the A-92 motorway in the Tabernas desert (Almería, population 3,991). From the road, only a short dirt track leads to the facilities, yet it feels like a journey through time. The spot combines the magic of cinema with the singularity of its surroundings. Over the years, new buildings and even Native American teepees were added to the original structures built for the film starring Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale. Everything is still standing. "Almost all of European western cinema passed through there," notes director, producer and screenwriter Guillermo de Oliveira, who headed the Almería Western Film Festival between 2021 and 2023. "It's an incredible, unique place with a great deal of history," says De Oliveira, pointing out how, for example, when the first wooden buildings were erected, two enormous fans were placed on the façade to coat it in dust and make it look as though it had been baking in the sun for decades. "Its great appeal is the desert, its sets, everything that has been filmed there," adds Miguel Ángel Cañadas, who shot the short film Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold at the location in 2017, which won an award a year later at the Tabernas Festival.
The site continues to host film, television, advertising and music video shoots, including the video for Mika's song Boum Boum Boum. It is also open to visitors, with tickets costing 10 euros per person. However, the deterioration of the facilities and lack of maintenance feature prominently in most of the reviews users post online about the site, with complaints about unsafe conditions and neglect. In addition, Environmental Officers from the Junta de Andalucía reported an unauthorised party held there in 2022, according to sources within the Andalusian administration. The Guardia Civil's SEPRONA unit also carried out an investigation into animal mistreatment.
The owning family acquired the property after the shoot of Sergio Leone's iconic film and still live there today, though they say they can no longer sustain the project and want fresh blood to take it over. Years ago they put the site on the market for 2.8 million euros, handled at the time by the estate agency Grupo Rukasa, but no buyer came forward. Four months ago, the estate agency Meraki Homes took charge of the sale, now at a considerably lower price: 1.6 million euros.
Possible uses
The agency's director, Ismael Fernández, highlights that the listing has great visibility and has generated significant interest, but that barely a couple of business groups have shown genuine interest. Everything is pending, he says, upcoming meetings. "It is a process that requires time and work," underlines the man who explains that the plot spans more than 80,000 square metres, of which around 800 are built up. However, it lacks an electrical connection and, for the time being, is supplied only by a small solar energy plant and generators. Furthermore, its land is classified as rural and falls within a nature reserve, which means that possible uses are limited. "They won't allow a hotel, but many other activities can take place: concerts, cultural activities, events and, of course, film shoots," Fernández points out.
The description of the listing on the estate agency's website adds options such as themed weddings, exclusive celebrations, brand presentations, festivals, concerts, corporate activities and gastronomic events. This is why the agent believes that Western Leone has the same potential as the other historic western sets in the area: Fort Bravo and Mini Hollywood Oasys. Particularly the latter, where a wide range of activities are held and there is accommodation, a water park and even a reserve with up to 800 animals such as lions and giraffes.
"Western Leone is a setting with a very important history for our town. It has hosted numerous film shoots over recent decades and is part of the identity of our desert as a great film set," says Tabernas mayor José Díaz, who trusts that the settlement will fall into the hands of some business group that will preserve its most significant buildings and breathe new life into the project. Díaz also recalls that Tabernas holds the Pueblo de Película distinction, a recognition that reflects the municipality's close relationship with the audiovisual industry and its status as the only desert in Europe to have become a major natural film set. "Cinema is part of our identity, our heritage and also our development model. Every film shoot generates employment, boosts tourism and projects the image of Tabernas to the world," he concludes.