Even though it’s technically the last location to film on the Spanish locations schedule, Game of Thrones arrived in Almería yesterday to begin preproduction work on Season 6.
Local outlet La Voz De Almería spotted the first trailers to arrive from Belfast in El Chorrillo Sierra Alhamilla, which it had previously reported was on the list of locations for the coming season. The area is also arguably the most well-known of the locations, having been used most recently to film Exodus: Gods and Kings. The fact that El Chorrillo Sierra Alhamilla is familiar with the film production process may be one reason the Game of Thrones crew is using it as a landing pad for preproduction activities.
According to the reports, everything that’s currently arriving is shrouded in secrecy, so we still don’t know what the location is standing in for—Dorne or Essos. Nothing will be built locally either—the town is expecting everything to be shipped in, having been prefabricated in Ireland.
There’s good reason for Almeria to be excited about the arrival of the show to their city. As Lauren Frayer reports, Game of Thrones is a huge boost to the local economies of the towns, due to tourism from fans. Seville, which stood in for Dorne last year, has had an enormous boost this past holiday season, a boost that almost singlehandedly revived the town’s economy.
I’m sure Almería, Girona, Navarra and Peñíscola are hoping this will do the same for them.