After the excitement of Game of Thrones Season 5 being filmed in the Alcazar palace in Seville last October, and subsequently in Osuna’s bullring, the limelight has transferred to Almeria province this year, where filming of Season 6 will take place next month on the Almeria coast and in the Tabernas desert. This is the second season which has been filmed in Andalucia.
Staff have been spotted preparing scenery in the area of El Chorrilo de Pechina in Sierra Alhamilla, where Exodus: Gods and Kings was also filmed recently, and the Faro de Mesa Roldan lighthouse near Carboneras. Sets are being constructed using materials specially prepared in Belfast and then transported to Spain, to be put together on location.
The Alcazaba in Almeria, the city’s Moorish citadel, is also to feature as a palace.
Almerian locations will represent either Dorne (as was the case with the Alcazar in Seville) or Essos.
Other locations include the Muralla de Jayrán, and the Cautivo de Tabernas, where 100 horses will be used, making it likely that this location will be Essos, home to the Dothraki, a nomadic horse-riding warrior tribe similar to the Mongols.
Shooting will take place from 10 to 23 October, with 2700 extras being used – 1800 men and 900 women.
Season 6 is expected to air in April 2016, like previous seasons of Game of Thrones.
To see which movies were filmed around Almeria province, see our list of films shot in Andalucia. The other Spanish locations for this season of Game of Thrones (Juego de Tronas in Spanish) are Girona, in the north-east, and Peñiscola, in Castellon.