Tourists flood Game of Thrones season 7 locations as preparation begins on season 8

Game of Thrones season 7 introduced us to a lot of new locations — Casterly Rock, Highgarden, a frozen lake somewhere north of the Wall — but the island of Dragonstone probably left the biggest impression.

True, we’d seen it before; Stannis Baratheon hung out there for seasons 2 through 4. But for season 7, the production redoubled its efforts to make sure we remembered Dragonstone as one of the iconic Game of Thrones locations. The long, silent sequence in the season 7 premiere highlighted how much effort they were putting into this. Dany didn’t just arrive on the island where she was born and get straight to work; she took the time to touch the sand of her home country, watched as the massive gates opened, and took a tour of the castle before finally arriving at the Painted Table, where she would spent the rest of the season planning her invasion.

According to Spanish-language paper El País, the viewers noticed. The staircase at Dragonstone was filmed on the islet of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in the Basque Country of Spain. Per a source on the country council, approximately 75,000 tourists visited the islet this past July, for an average of about 2,419 people per day. (The beach scenes were largely filmed elsewhere in Spain, at Itzurun Beach in Zumaia. We can only imagine their tourism is through the roof, too.

Obviously, the local tourism office in Bermeo is pleased with this turnout, although it comes with challenges, as well. “There needs to be organization,” said a representative. “Everyone wants to walk up Gaztelugatxe at noon and come back down for lunch, or walk up at 5:00 and back down at 7:00, and that’s crazy.”

The authorities are examining ways to manage the swell of interest — they’re looking into limiting entry to a certain number of people per day, improving signage, restricting the use of cars and public transit, or even charging for visits. Also, the Department of Environment for the Provincial Council of Bizkaia is trying to get the area protected as a “protected biotope,” preserving it for future generations of tourists.

WARNING: LIGHT SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

Last we saw, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister were sailing away from Dragonstone. We don’t know if the production will return to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe for season 8, but according to Irish Thrones, a Game of Thrones Twitter account located near where HBO does a lot of its filming in Northern Ireland, the team is already at work in another old location: the studios at Corbet-Banbridge.

The Corbet-Banbridge area is multi-faceted. There’s an interior space at Linen Mills Studio, where the crew has filmed things like the “Hold the Door” sequence from season 6 and some of the Winterfell stuff from season 7. They also build sets outdoors, such as the front of Riverrun, last seen in season 6. According to Irish Thrones, there’s activity in both areas.

Before we get too excited, we note that the Riverrun facade was apparently up during filming for season 7, too, and obviously it didn’t get used. But maybe they didn’t take it down because they knew it would feature in season 8?

These are the kinds of questions we’ll be asking during the offseason, which is starting to get underway. Look for more queries like this when filming starts in earnest in October.

Next: Michele Clapton on the messages behind the costumes in season 7

To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels.