Various locations all over Spain were used to film this classic. Segovia provided palaces where needed, and inevitably Almeria was used for the North African and Scicilian sections.
The Battle of El Guettar takes place in the Rambla del Buho, whereas the Rambla de Benavides was the scene of the disastrous Battle of the Kasserine Pass.
This battle opens the film (immediately after Patton’s speech in front of the stars and stripes) and the ruins seen are those of Tabernas castle.
Apparently, when the film was being made, one of the doors to the castle was destroyed and at the bottom of the castle an old Arab graveyard was found.
Swings and roundabouts!
The castle at Tabernas had a second role, as the German bastion in Sicily, from where artillery plastered General Bradley’s troops as they were sacrificed for Patton’s glory. Bradley’s jeep is destroyed during this scene, as fire rains down from the castle.