Real People Actually Live in Tatooine, Like, Right Now

Mos Espa is the Tatooine spaceport that not only Anakin Skywalker called home, but also held the podrace in Star Wars: Episode I. The location is fiction, but the people who live there right now are very real.

After George Lucas and his crew wrapped filming, they left the set standing—much like they did with the recently saved Lars Homestead. Mos Espa, however, wasn’t deserted. People moved in.

Japanese website Rocket News recently visited the spaceport’s set in region part of Tunisia. The set, however, now has occupants. One of them was raising birds. Another sold trinkets.

Mos Espa is comprised of between 15 and 20 buildings. According to Rocket News, many of the buildings seemed sturdy, but some were only facades.

Rocket News also visited Luke Skywalker’s home in the 1977 film. It’s been converted into a hotel called Hotel Sidi Driss that offers bed and board as well as the opportunity to freak out about staying on for one more season and not applying to the Academy.

Star Wars Tatooine Set Pieces [Rocket News]

Hotel [Rocket News]

Video Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kaZrb9R_8yE