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Game of thrones, a travel through Spain

Game of thrones is one of the bigger series of the 21s century, started on 2011 until the season 8 on 2019 closing it, this series travelled in many countries so if the cold of the winter is coming already in Northern Ireland, Spain brings heat for the series.

Seville, located in the south of Spain, is where we can find the Real Alcazar used for Water Gardens and Sunspear, House Martell in Dorne, where Trystane Martell played with Myrcella Baratheon. Maria de Padilla’s baths are the place where Sand Snakes plotted the vengeance of their father Oberyn and in the Ambassador’s Hall,prince Doran Martell welcomed Jaime Lannister in this beautiful salon.

Seville, located in the south of Spain, is where we can find the Real Alcazar used for Water Gardens and Sunspear, House Martell in Dorne, where Trystane Martell played with Myrcella Baratheon. Maria de Padilla’s baths are the place where Sand Snakes plotted the vengeance of their father Oberyn and in the Ambassador’s Hall,prince Doran Martell welcomed Jaime Lannister in this beautiful salon. Some scenes were filmed also in the Royal Dockyards (Reales Atarazanas) of Seville. Now in its outskirts:

  • Osuna, if you go to visit its bullring, it will remind you the gladiator scenes when Daenerys Targaryen(Mother of Dragons) was fighting against the Meereen slave masters conquering the northernmost and largest of the three great Slaver Cities of Slaver’s Bay
  • And Italica, the amphitheatre of the Roman ruins is the scene of the most important meeting. Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow and Cersei Lannisterwere gathered in King's Landing at the remains of the Dragonpit to negotiate how to deal with the undead White Walkers. And it is again here, at the last season, where Tyrion convinced to the remaining lords and ladies of the great houses of Westeros that Bran Stark, the three-eyed crow, is the new king.

Let’s stay in the heat of the south of Spain, Cordoba, when TyrionLannister and Varys entering the Free City of Volantis, they walked in the Roman Bridge of Cordoba, becoming the Long Bridge where people of Volantis can buy practically anything they want. Near to Cordoba, there is a small town called Almodovar del Rio in which its castle is the Highgarden, home of House Tyrell, and seized later by the Lannister family.

Almeria owns the Alcazaba fortress where we can see it for some scenes of Water Gardens sharing some with Real Alcazar in Seville but the most important is the El Chorillo, situated in Sierra de Alhamilla, used for Vaes Dothrak, the city of the Dothraki and the Tabernas desert for the Dothraki Sea. In the other hand, Almeria was also used for the outskirts of Meereen, the largest and northernmost of the cities in Bay of Dragons (ex Slaver’s Bay), in which Daenerys was kidnapped to bring her back to Vaes Dothrak. The Cabo de Gata park and the Mesa Roldan tower (situated outside of Almeria) were used for some scenes in Meeren, like the one when Daenerys punished the Masters and she rode Drogon into the bay.

Some of the Dothraki sea scenes were also located at Bardenas Reales, in the north of Spain, near to Tudela, particularly the ones where Daenerys met the Dothraki tribe and she was held captive. I have to say that the lushest scenes of this place were filmed in Ireland at Glens of Antrim.

With that, it is time to head north, just at the middle of Spain, at Campillo de Dueñas, the Zafra castle is the Tower of Joyin the Red Mountains of Dorne. Here was filmed one of the crucial events, Bran Stark, as Greenseer, travelled in the past to see a young Ned Stark fighting Arthur Dayne and other Targaryen soldiers believing that his sister has been kidnapped. Later, we learnt that Rhaegar Targaryen(Daenerys' brother) were married with Lyanna Stark (Ned Stark's sister) in secret and Lyanna died by giving birth to her son named Aegon Targaryen (alias Jon Snow), rightful heir to the Iron Throne and she asked Ned to protect him.

The Old Town of Caceres was used for King’s Landing streets sharing its scenes with Dubrovnik and Los Barruecos of Caceres, a natural monument park, where is located the Casterly Rock built atop a gold mine in the Westerlands. This place is also seen during the Battle of the Dragons when Daenerys released her dragon against the Lannisters’s army. Near to it, there is the Trujillo castle which can be seen when the Unsullied attacked the residence of the House Lannister.

Peñíscola is a town with some scenes for Meereen, particularly with Tyrion, Varys and Grey Worm:

  • The mayor street where Tyrion and Varys walked and discussed new strategies
  • The portal fosc where the Red Priest preached to people in High Valyrian
  • The santa maria square and the artilleria park where Tyrion, Missandei and Grey Worm discussed about Masters of Astapor and Yunkai

The Santa Florentina castle of Canet de Mar, near Barcelona, was used for the Horn Hill, House Tarly’s castle and nearby, at Girona, a lot of scenes for King’s Landing and Braavos:

  • The Santa Maria Cathedral for the exterior of the Great Sept of Baelor in King’s Landing and when it was blown up by Cersei to avoid her own trial and in the same time, killing her enemies. It was in front of the Sept that Ned Stark was beheaded in public by the order of King Joffrey and when Jaime Lannister riding his horse up to the cathedral's steps to face the High Sparrow, the leader of The Faith Militant
  • The jurats square where Arya Stark watched a show portraying the Lannisters, and on its streets, where she talked with JaqenH’ghar and she ran from Waif but most importantly, a blinded Arya trained to become No One, a Faceless Man to impersonating victims with eerie masks made of their faces.
  • The old quarter walkway for the Free City of Braavos in Essos and the Sant Pere de Galligants, Ferran el Catolic, Sant Marti and l’Escola Pia streets for the the Braavosi bridge, street markets and theatre stage

Going more north, we have Gaztelugatxe, an island near to Bilbao, showing the volcanic island of Dragonstone, alias Castle Rock. We can see it when Daenerys returned to her birthplace. If you feel courageous to walk up the 237steps like Jon, Tyrion and Davos heading to the throne room to meet the queen, you will reach at its top the small church called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe so just imagine that it is the castle. For those who are lazy, near to Zumaia, there is the Itzurun beach used for the Dragonstone beach. After navigating across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys landed in this area with her Dothraki warriors, Varys and Tyrion. The other important point we learnt, it is that the place is full of dragonglass, the material that allows to kill White Walkers when Jon and Daenerys discovered them meanwhile exploring the caves.

So Game of thrones, during 8 seasons, went from South to North in Spain crossing from a dry to a lush land involving immemorial scenes that are crucial for its intrigue.