Game of Thrones may film in the Canary Islands for Season 7
By Ani Bundel
Game of Thrones Season 6 has now aired five of its 10 episodes, which means it’s time to start focusing on production for next year. (At this point, there’s a vague understanding that Season 7 of the show will run for less than 10 episodes.) This is the time when rumors fly that Game of Thrones will head to new locations, or return to older ones it hasn’t been to in a while. It feels like every season, newspapers in Malta post hopeful articles that the show might finally come back, after decamping for Croatia in Season 2. Ditto Morocco, which the show hasn’t returned to since filming there in Season 3.
Now, we have a new rumor that the production might head back to Africa, though not Morocco proper. Instead, according to Los Siete Reinos, reports are coming out of the Canary Islands that the production is looking to strike a deal for Season 7. The Canary Islands are located just off of Morocco’s southern coast. Though technically part of the African continent, the Canary Islands are an “autonomous community” presided over by Spain, a relic of the colonial era. The show went to Spain to film scenes in Dorne and in Daznak’s Pit for Season 5, and then moved there bag and baggage to film Season 6, shooting in cities like Girona and Peñíscola, as well as in the Bardenas Reales Natural Park in Navarre. That the Canary Islands are part of Spain lends credibility to these reports, especially as the Spanish government gives a hefty tax break to foreign productions that film there (a 35% break for filming in the Canary Islands vs a 15% for filming in a Spanish territory generally). According to local outlet Meridian, Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo has confirmed that negotiations with HBO are taking place, although the Spanish Film Commission will neither confirm nor deny anything.
Reportedly, the location being considered in the Canary Islands is the Teide National Park, which has an arid climate, high mountain peaks, and impressive rock formations. These resemble some of the areas we’ve seen in Essos, and could make a great stand in for some of the areas were heard about in the books.