MadRural, four cinematic territories
07/06/2026
The Community of Madrid has been the setting for the filming of some sequences from films that are now considered among the greatest in cinema history. Over the years, our region has become a perfect location for both national and international productions. Madrid has welcomed stars such as Charlton Heston, Omar Sharif, Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner to its most emblematic places, as well as filmmakers such as David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway. And not forgetting iconic producers such as Samuel Bronston, Stanley Kramer and Kirk Douglas.
In this post, we invite you to discover the places and villages in the Sierra Norte of Madrid, the Sierra de Guadarrama, the Sierra Oeste of Madrid and Las Vegas & Alcarria Madrileña where you can feel like a Hollywood star, admire the locations where some of the most spectacular battles in cinema history were recreated, or walk through the places where some of the most celebrated love stories of the seventh art took place. Come with MadRural and discover four territories straight out of the movies!
‘King of Kings’ (Nicholas Ray, 1961)
Perhaps before going into detail, it is worth mentioning just one name: Samuel Bronston. The Russian-born American producer was the creator of one of the most important production companies of the mid-20th century. With him, epic cinema and grand stories continued to have a well-deserved place on international screens. And many of the landscapes that shaped some of the unforgettable sequences of his major productions were filmed in the Community of Madrid.
We begin this overview with another major name: Nicholas Ray. The Wisconsin-born filmmaker was one of the most important American directors of the second half of the 20th century. Johnny Guitar (1954) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955) are just two of the titles that represent the best of his filmography. But did you know that some scenes from his portrait of Jesus of Nazareth, King of Kings, were filmed in Madrid? In Aldea del Fresno, in the heart of the Sierra Oeste of Madrid, the River Jordan was recreated. The town of Navacerrada, in the Sierra de Guadarrama, provided the setting for Golgotha and Christ’s Calvary on the cross. And somewhere in Chinchón, in Las Vegas & Alcarria Madrileña, the Sermon on the Mount took place.
‘El Cid’ (Anthony Mann, 1961) y ‘Alejandro el Grande’ (Robert Rossen, 1956)
‘Espartaco’ (Stanley Kubrick, 1960) y ‘La muerte tenía un precio’ (Sergio Leone, 1965)
Married to one of Spain’s greatest stars, Sara Montiel, since 1957, American filmmaker Anthony Mann always had a fruitful relationship with Spain. He shot many of his major films in our country. For example, El Cid, starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, became one of the greatest successes of his career. The Sierra de Guadarrama was the setting for some sequences of this Samuel Bronston superproduction. Both the producer and Anthony Mann once again turned their attention to the locations offered by Manzanares El Real when filming the famous battle against the Persians in 55 Days at Peking (1963).
In the case of Alexander the Great, Manzanares El Real or Rascafría, in the Sierra Norte of Madrid, helped shape Robert Rossen’s vision for some of the sequences in one of the most important historical films of its time. Starring Richard Burton, Fredric March and Claire Bloom, the plot tells the story of the great hero Alexander the Great.
Among the different locations used for this project, which was initially led by director Anthony Mann and eventually ended up in the hands of Stanley Kubrick, were places such as Alcalá de Henares and Colmenar Viejo. But few people know that filming also visited municipalities such as Aldea del Fresno, in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid, as well as Venturada and Rascafría, in the Sierra Norte of Madrid, to shoot some remaining sequences after the main production had been completed.
Without a doubt, there is one genre that shaped cinema in both Spain and Italy: the spaghetti western. Hoyo de Manzanares, in the Sierra of Guadarrama, became the town of Tucumcari for Sergio Leone’s For a Few Dollars More, the second instalment of the celebrated “Dollars Trilogy”. Leone returned to this location, as for the first film, A Fistful of Dollars, Hoyo de Manzanares became the main street of San Miguel, where one of the film’s most memorable sequences takes place. At the same time, Aldea del Fresno became the river setting for the moment when the Rojos massacre a group of soldiers in order to steal their weapons, in one of the film’s key scenes.
Buitrago del Lozoya and ‘Así en el cielo como en la tierra’ (José Luis Cuerda, 1995)
Who does not remember the entrance to Heaven in Así en el cielo como en la tierra? Paco Rabal, dressed as a Civil Guard officer under the name of Saint Peter, waited for those hoping to enter. That entrance was none other than Buitrago del Lozoya, one of the Villas of Madrid that you can discovery with MadRural.
This film by José Luis Cuerda is one of his most delirious comedies and one of his most fondly remembered works.
Films such as Furtivos (José Luis Borau, 1975), one of the most celebrated titles in the history of Spanish cinema, were also shot in the Sierra Norte of Madrid. The surroundings of the town of Montejo de la Sierra dshaped the obsessions of its characters almost as if they were another character in the story. Patones andAirbag (Juanma Bajo Ulloa, 1997), Valdemanco and Los años bárbaros (Fernando Colomo, 1998), and Horcajo de la Sierra and Días contados (Imanol Uribe, 1994) are also places and titles of great relevance..
All this without forgetting Torrelaguna, ltown declared one of the Villas of Madrid, which has hosted the filming of movies such as El viaje a ninguna parte (Fernando Fernán Gómez, 1986), Amantes (Vicente Aranda, 1991), Sangre de mayo (José Luis Garci, 2008) and Everybody Knows (Asghar Farhadi, 2018), a film that also shot some of its scenes in Villa del Prado and San Martín de Valdeiglesias, in the Sierra Oeste of Madrid.
Chinchón, localidad de cine
mong all the films that have been shot in Chinchón,
we would like to highlight two. The first, directed by Henry Hathaway, is Circus World. Starring John Wayne, Rita Hayworth and Claudia Cardinale, it is one of the most exciting adventures ever made about the circus. Produced by Samuel Bronston, Chinchón and its Plaza Mayor play an exceptional role in a feature film that is now a true part of cinema history.
But the Plaza Mayor of this town in Las Vegas & la Alcarria Madrileña,
also listed as one of the Villas of Madrid, also hosted the filming of the adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days directed by Michael Anderson in 1956. This setting was used precisely to recreate the bullfight in which Cantinflas and Luis Miguel Dominguín delighted both the spectators and the extras who were lucky enough to witness that moment.
Orson Welles also chose Chinchón for two of his adventures as a director. In 1965, for the filming of Chimes at Midnight, he was accompanied by Fernando Rey and Jeanne Moreau, co-stars of the film. Indeed, the filmmaker’s love for Spain led him to be buried in Ronda, Málaga, although there is no doubt that Chinchón would have been a more than fitting eternal resting place. He returned to the Madrid town in 1968 to film The Immortal Story. Can anyone imagine Chinchón’s Plaza Mayor as if it were the bustling streets of Macau? Welles and Chinchón sealed their pact for eternity at the famous Las Cuevas del Vino inn, with a signature that is now one of the most photographed.
But one of the best proposals you can enjoy in Las Vegas & Alcarria Madrileña is the Cinema Museum of Villarejo de Salvanés. It is the first professional cinema museum in Spain and houses an extensive collection of objects, projectors and posters with which to contemplate and trace the history of cinema. A journey through time and through the different techniques used by both filmmakers and projectionists to entertain so many spectators over more than a century.
Madrid, the ultimate film set
The Community of Madrid has been, and continues to be, a leading destination for the audiovisual industry. Across the region, especially in the MadRural territories — the Sierra Norte of Madrid, the Sierra Oeste, the Sierra de Guadarrama and Las Vegas & Alcarria Madrileña — great filmmakers, producers and directors have used its landscapes and monuments as settings for major productions. These places combine unique natural enclaves, picturesque villages and historical heritage, bringing a distinctive character to any film shoot. In addition, the hiking routes, ancient castles and vast open fields offer a visual richness that has attracted filmmakers from all over the world. This dynamism not only boosts the audiovisual sector, but also tourism, promoting experiences based on the films shot there. Discover all the film routes in the Community of Madrid at Film Madrid.
If you would like to discover all the film locations in MadRural and the Community of Madrid, visit this link and… feel like a star of the silver screen!