As we drove along the highway that leads north, with each of us doing our best to speak our new second language, Ramon made sure to point out interesting places along the way.
The one place that caught my eye and made me laugh was a place called Oasys (AKA Mini Hollywood). This is one of three American Wild West theme parks here in Almeria province that have been used as the backdrop for scenes in more than 100 famous films (sometimes labeled as “spaghetti” westerns) including A Fistful of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
When not being used as a movie set, Mini Hollywood stages daily bank hold-ups and shootouts on its main street; complete with a general store, a saloon and tumbleweeds. Mini Hollywood also has a rather large zoo and of course, no theme park would be complete without a water feature (read… pool).
Since Ramon and I were “working”, we did not have time to do more than a drive-by so we headed off down the highway taking in the absolutely incredible landscape along the way. The topography in this area is gorgeous! Even though we were only a little further inland from Las Negras, the hills near these theme parks seemed much drier, barren and jagged though every bit as beautiful.
After driving north for a number of miles, we ventured off the highway into the softly rolling landscape that lined the more narrow country roads. The entire area was still surrounded by the rugged mountains in the distance and the land that looked like rocky, dry, scrub land along the highway changed into cultivated groves of olive trees. The terroire in this area is by no means the loamy, fertile farm land we know in the north eastern US, but more similar to stony gravel.
From the paved country road we turned onto a dirt lane which eventually emptied out onto a (now dry) rambla. This long lane/rambla was actually the drive leading to the home of the farmer who was our first appointment. Should that rambla run water in rainy weather, they would certainly have to find another way home!
After we stopped the car at the farmhouse (a building that looked to be a combination ancient, stone fortress with newer stucco additions) and skirted around the numerous dogs that eyed us cautiously, Ramon told me I was about to see “typical” Spain. Upon meeting the farmer and seeing inside one of the other two buildings on the property, what I believe Ramon meant to say was “traditional” Spain……
Set down the hill and across the driveway from the rambling house was a large outbuilding with walls of concrete and inside this building we found the farmer and his family finishing up their midday meal. Near an open hearth, complete with burning coals that filled the room with the smell of wood smoke, there was a knee high table on which was centered a very large, paella pan that held the remnants from almuerzo (lunch) and seated around this table were a few, very content adults.
The floor of the building was uneven concrete and a ceiling of rustic, round timbers held up the metal roofing. Off to the side, on a water splashed, wooden cart with large, rust colored, iron wheels there was a blue plastic washtub filled with wash water.
Ramon obviously knew these people very well because he was warmly greeted by an old woman who I guessed was the farmer’s mother. She had to be in her 80’s, about four and a half feet tall and nearly as wide with hands that had worked a lifetime of manual labor and a very expressive face that had seen years of sunny landscapes. She wore a kerchief tied under her chin, a black dress and an apron tied at the waist and she seemed to be the one in charge, if not of the farm itself then definitely of this building which was her kitchen. The most interesting part of what I saw in front of me?.......In the dim light at the back of the room was an enormous hog that had been butchered, gutted, butterflied and strung up from the rafters by its back legs. It was truly the biggest pig I had ever seen, I would guess in the neighborhood of over four hundred pounds. From the tips of its back toes (touching the rafters) to the tip of its front toes (hanging just above the washtub placed under its nose to catch the blood) it had to be eight or nine feet in length!
At that point I knew Ramon had meant to say “traditional” Spain not “typical” Spain.
The farmer eventually hopped in Ramon’s car and we headed off to see his latest project; a very large greenhouse that needed to be completely revamped. But more interesting then that was the farm itself, seven million sq meters (approx. 1700 acres) of rugged, arid land. When one sees this part of the world you cannot imagine any plant or animal living here, especially people. There are no large wild trees and seemingly no water. There are a few birds flying about, as well as partridge on the ground and the occasional, elusive wild boar, but without trees for cover there are very, very few creatures to speak of.
This landscape-although beautiful-seems very inhospitable; yet this farmer, along with many others in this region, and those countless generations that preceded him, manages to make a living and provide for his family. Along with a flock of sheep (wandering somewhere out on the millions of square meters) this family tended 17 acres of olive groves and 10 acres of almonds and, from the sound of it they would soon to venture into the world of invernaderos.It is truly remarkable!
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