Fistful of dollars

   

Tino, the delightful manager of a campsite in Las Alpujarras told us about an unspoilt area of southern Spain apparently known only to locals where the film A Fistful of Dollars and other spaghetti westerns were filmed.

So we backtracked to the Med to have a look, and it didn't disappoint - an unusual mixture of mainly arid desert, volcanic rock formations dropping into the sea, salt pans, old mining villages, dilapidated habitation, small upmarket holiday towns with accessible beaches, and some that need a boat to get to, and even a flamingo colony - this was Cabo da Gata, just east of Almeria.  We parked up on a beach road 20m from the Med, had an obligatory swim which was delightfully refreshing, and went to sleep listening to the waves.