Find out how filming King’s Landing in Spain compared to filming it in Croatia
Game of Thrones has finally packed up and moved on to Peñíscola, leaving the city of Girona behind. I’m sure the production—much like an army straight from the pages of one of George R.R. Martin’s books—has a group of camp followers that grows in size with every city and town it visits. Thanks to those followers, we have had quite a busy couple of weeks, with some fantastic pictures of the core cast coming and going, both in and out of costume. Because of these unofficial photos, we’ve been able to piece together some of the story for Game of Thrones Season 6.
The people behind Spanish website El Punt Avui have been in Girona from the first moment HBO set foot in the city. They interviewed Javi Marcos, one of the proprietors of all-purpose Spanish-language Game of Thrones fansite Los Seven Reinos, about his experiences chronicling the production and his thoughts on certain scenes and what they might mean for the upcoming season. Marcos was asked about the differences between filming in Seville last year and filming in Girona this year. Despite the fact that filming in Girona was more complex, given that the producers had to film in the streets next the residences and businesses rather than in enclosed areas like the ones used in Seville, Marcos said that filming in Seville became incredibly expensive, in part due to restrictive Spanish tax laws affecting foreign film production. Those laws were revised ahead of Season 6 filming, which had a lot to do with why the production shifted so much of its time to the country this year.
Javi Marcos. Administrador de la web “Los Siete Reinos”. “Juego de tronos”. “Joc de trons.”
Marcos also went over scenes to look out for come next year, like the much balleyhooed scene on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor (something that hasn’t happened in the books yet) and Arya’s adventures in stage acting. He also commented on the show’s decision to shift its focus from the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, which had long stood in for King’s Landing, to Girona. As far as he’s concerned, while a local might recognize that the production has shifted locales, the average person watching at home won’t be able to tell the difference, which is good news for the show’s verisimilitude.
I’m sure Javi will be following the cast and crew to Peñíscola, and I look forward to reading more of his musings on the filming of Season 6 from there. Also, from reading his entire interview, it would appear as if he has read all the books, and knows what he’s talking about, which kind of endears him to me a bit, so now I’m kind of invested in his experience. We’ll keep you updated with the news and photos from Peñíscola, Spain, as they come in.
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