Cáceres City Council announces street closings ahead of Game of Thrones filming
By Ani Bundel
Image: Elemaki. License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
The Cáceres City Council has announced street closings in preparation of filming on Game of Thrones Season 7 in the city. According to Hoy.es, several areas of the Old Town area of Cáceres will have street closing to accommodate the productions needs over two days of scheduled shooting.
Game of Thrones has been scheduled to film in the city on December 14th and 15th. Areas named as part of the closing include the Arch of the Star, the Piazza Santa Maria, the Plaza de los Golfines, the Church of St Matthew and the palacio de las Veletas. Additional closing in and around the area will start this coming Monday the 5th and will affect the historic tourist area throughout the next week as the set and props people load in the pieces that will transform the Spanish city into a Westerosi metropolis. (The assumption is that this area of Cáceres will stand in for parts of King’s Landings, but that’s not confirmed.)
This is a huge inconvenience for those in the area. Vehicle access in the area is to be completely closed off, and the only non-show related pedestrian traffic allowed in will be the local residents. Game of Thrones fans are also sure to descend on the area during filming. But the City Council sees these inconveniences as a small sacrifice for the greater good. As we’ve noted before, every Spanish city that’s been selected for Game of Thrones filming has seen massive spikes in tourist traffic in the following years, as holiday makers from the UK and vacationers from America choose to check out the famous areas of Westeros as part of their time away from the realities of modern life. According to a city spokesperson Rafael Mateos, this is “a unique showcase” for Cáceres and “great news for the city.”