The Wayne in Spain
Which Spanish village has seen John Wayne on horseback shooting pesky Indians and David Niven arriving in a hot air balloon?
The answer is Chinchón, a monumental village with a very special square (it’s oval actually) and a long history as a favourite location for film making, which has attracted directors such as Orson Welles.
Chinchón is conveniently situated just south east of Madrid, and was one of the key locations for Wayne’s Circus World, also starring Rita Hayworth and Niven’s Around the World in 80 Days, accompanied by the bullfighting Mexican comic Cantinflas.
On Saturday 2nd December 2017 at 4 pm, Chinchón had another date with the cinema as professionals and enthusiasts gathered at the Parador Nacional to discuss and enjoy the town’s cinema history and explore the possibilities of attracting set-jetters (film tourists) to the locations where so many great stars and directors have gone before.
The event was organised by the non-profit making association ‘España de Cine,’ whose President is Valencia-based Londoner Bob Yareham, author of a guide to over 900 English language films and TV series made in Spain, ‘Movies Made in Spain.’
Among the speakers were Juan Luis Camacho Molina from Chinchón’s tourism association, local writer Manuel Carrasco Moreno, cinema tourism expert Laura Tejerina of cineturismo.es, and Bob Yareham.
There was also be a screening of a previously unseen video of Spanish actor José Sacristán, speaking about his native Chinchón to Bob Yareham. 80 year old Sacristán is one of Spain’s leading actors, and star of such Spanish film classics as La Colmena.
An enthusiastic audience of local people held a lively debate in the presence of the local councillor responsible for culture, Jesús Francisco Hortelano Carretero.
One suggestion was to collaborate with other local towns with a cinema history such as Nuevo Baztán and Colmenar Orejar to create a cinema tourism package.
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