Almost all Western fans are convinced that the genre’s origins in Spain are in the deserts of Almería. But few know that the real story began in a modest mountain town near Madrid. In 1962, Golden City appeared in Hoyo de Manzanares—the first permanent film set built in Europe specifically for movie productions.
Two years later, it was here that Sergio Leone filmed ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, a film that not only ushered in a new era of European Westerns but also launched the careers of Clint Eastwood and Ennio Morricone. It seemed that this corner of Spain was about to become a mecca for cinema. However, most productions soon moved to Andalusia, and the small town near Madrid was quickly forgotten.
Decades later, two enthusiasts, Miguel Ángel Guerra and Iván Carras, set out to discover what happened to Golden City. This led to the creation of the documentary ‘The Magnificent Stranger’, in which the directors painstakingly reconstruct the fate of the vanished set. Their story is not only an account of the rise and fall of a unique place, but also an attempt to understand how one film changed the life of an entire community. This was especially true for women, who found new opportunities and careers they had never dreamed of before.
The film features people who worked on the set of Golden City. Among them is set designer José Luis Galicia, Picasso’s last friend, and producer Andrés Vicente Gómez, who once met Clint Eastwood at the airport and handed him his first fees in cash—10,500 pesetas for a week’s work. These details bring the past to life and make it almost tangible.
The premiere of the film coincided with the 60th anniversary of the release of ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ in Spain. To make the film, the creators traveled not only around Hoyo de Manzanares, but also to other corners of the Madrid region, as well as to Guadalajara. They admit that if not for their work, this story might have vanished forever. After the success of the first Westerns, filming in the town stopped, and Golden City itself turned into overgrown ponds and ruins. The glory shifted to Almería, and the place where it all began was almost forgotten.
Today, The Magnificent Stranger puts Hoyo de Manzanares back on the map of Spanish cinema. The film not only tells the story of the past, but also reminds us that sometimes the most important stories are hidden where you least expect them.
