Tabernas Desert

A sunrise in the Tabernas Desert

The Tabernas Desert has various types of climates; from the hot desert climate and hot semi-arid climate in a few lowland areas to the cold desert climate and the cold semi-arid climate in most of the desert. The Tabernas Desert is situated between the Sierra de los Filabres to the north and the Sierra de Alhamilla to the south-southeast, isolating it from the humid winds of the Mediterranean Sea, in an area with little rainfall known as Levante.

In the lowest areas of the Tabernas basin (about 400 meters above sea level), the average annual temperature is of about 18.0 °C ( (Soil–geomorphology relations in gypsiferous materials of the Tabernas Desert (Almería, SE Spain), page 4/30). Temperatures in winter rarely drop below freezing at night while during the summer, absolute maximum temperatures always surpass 40 °C (104 °F) in the shade. The annual average precipitation is between 15-22 cm (depending on the zone, see same source pages 1 & 4/30) with only 1/3 falling in the hot season (May to October). The average annual sunshine is about 3000 hours.

Thus the climate, between 400 and about 800–900 meters, is a) at the edge of the temperate and subtropical climates (The 18 °C mean annual isotherm separates both climates), b) semi-arid of "Syrian" type (see Georges Viers, Éléments de climatologie, Paris, Nathan, 1990) which means that the dry season occurs during the hot season (= 6 hottest months of the year). These characteristics are also aggravated by the foehn effect.

Above about 800–900 meters the precipitation increases, thus reducing the dry summer season, while the temperature drops. At these altitudes, the Tabernas basin climate is not any more semi-arid but either Mediterranean.

Panoramic view of Tabernas Desert from A-92 (GPS 37.016773 -2.446092)

Panorama

The little rainfall that occurs is usually torrential, so that the ground, consisting of marls and sandstone with little vegetation, is unable to retain moisture. Instead, the rain causes erosion, forming the characteristic landscape of badlands. Arroyos formed by torrential rain harbor the scarce vegetation, as well as fauna such as swifts, hedgehogs, jackdaws, pin-tailed sandgrouses, blue rock thrushes, stone curlews, trumpeter finches, and crested larks.

The desert is well endowed with vegetation for a desert. Plants such as the sea lavender (Limonium insignis), which are teetering on the verge of extinction, manage to flourish in the semi-arid environment of the desert. In winter, the landscape of the desert turns white when the toadflax linaria (Nigricans lange) flowers. There are specimens of yellow scorpions (Buthus occitanus), tarantulas (Lycosa tarentulla) and black widows (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) although it's not deadly as the American black widow. Coastal areas have lesser weevers such as Echiichthys vipera and Tachinus dracco, which usually live under the sand.[2]

Map showing the different film sets built west of Tabernas

A street of Mini Hollywood

The Desert of Tabernas, because of its similarities with the North American deserts like the Far West of the American West, northern Africa, the Arabian deserts, and its lunar landscape, has been a popular area to shoot many films and westerns since the 1950s. The spaghetti westerns were shot at the three main studios, Texas Hollywood, Mini Hollywood, and Western Leone.[3][4][5]

The sixth season of the TV series Game of Thrones was shot in locations from Andalusia to Catalonia, including the desert,[6] which is the Dothraki Sea, a gigantic steppe in Essos, the largest continent.[7]

• List of Sites of Community Importance in Andalusia
• Climate of Spain
• List of films shot in Almería