You may not have seen it yet, but you sure have heard of it. We refer to “ La Isla Minimima ”, a film that has recently been awarded the Goya for Best Film, in addition to having won another 9 statuettes. Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this police thriller by Alberto Rodríguez impresses, among other things, with its landscapes. In fact, the locations chosen by the director have played an essential role in the plot.
Landscapes are so important in the development of the film that today we wanted to take a tour of one of the most recurrent settings in the film: the Guadalquivir marshes. Would you like to join us?
The Guadalquivir Marshes
Curiously, the story of “La Isla Minimima” was inspired by some images that the Sevillian photographer Atín Aya had taken in the 90s of the landscape of the Guadalquivir Marshes. It is an area of about 2,000 square kilometers located between the provinces of Huelva, Seville and Cádiz, which has emerged not only by the force of nature, but by the hand of man. The marsh created by the sediments that the Guadalquivir had dragged into the sea for centuries, which reached from the Atlantic to Seville and was penetrated, in addition to the Guadalquivir, by two of its arms, gave rise to the formation of the so-called Isla Mayor, a municipality of about 5,000 inhabitants, and Isla Menor. The latter was divided by the Corta de los Jerónimos to make navigation easier, creating the small island that has been known since then as the Minimum Island.
Landscapes protagonists of the film
In addition to the spectacular riverbed with its countless branches, in the Guadalquivir Marshes you can find other impressive landscapes, such as extensive fields of rice fields or almost deserted areas. Many of the scenes in the film were shot on Isla Mayor, a town that, being surrounded by farmland, looks like a real island when they are flooded . It is precisely the cultivated hectares, the wheat fields and the rice fields that host most of the intrigue sequences. Another scene that we want to highlight is the Brazo de los Jerónimos, since this is where the protagonists enter to reach areas where it is not possible to access by land.
Tourist route
The film has become so relevant that the Seville Provincial Council, the Andalusian Government and the Andalusian Flim Commission have decided to launch a tourist route through its main settings, such as Puebla del Río, Isla Mayor, the Veta la Palma farm, Vetaherrado, Poblado Cotemsa, Playa de los Morenos, the Brazo de los Jerónimos and La Minima. In addition, this tourist proposal includes cycling and hiking routes, horseback riding through the Dehesa de Abajo Concerted Natural Reserve, bird watching and visits to the open-air museum located on Isla de los Pájaros and the Casitas de los Ingleses. In addition, you should not forget that one of the greatest attractions of this route is the gastronomy of the area.
Places of interest in the area
If you have the opportunity to visit this beautiful place in Andalusia, we recommend that you take the opportunity to discover other nearby corners. The main one is the Doñana National Park, a paradise for nature and bird lovers. In addition, very close is also the village of Rocío, where thousands of parishioners come every year.