Let the ‘Game' begin
Expectation mounts in Girona's capital as filming for the sixth series of the popular US series Game of Thrones gets under way
The city will become a centrepoint of unfolding action
Girona has for days been preparing for the filming of the sixth season of Game of Thrones, which begins today and will last for three weeks. Since the US network HBO, international producers of the show that is broadcast here by Canal +, made the locations in Girona for this season official in early June, the city has taken on much more of a medieval atmosphere, making it seem even more natural as set for a tale of knights, fantasy and Shakespearean-style drama.
With the arrival of technical equipment and production crew in the last week of August, Girona has put the on finishing touches. Council workers have removed out-of-place garbage bins, benches, street signs and in turn, the crew have set the scene with baskets, carts, market stalls and wharf-side decor. The esplanade in front of the Arab Baths, is now the market of Braavos , one of the cities of this literary saga dreamed up by US writer George RR Martin.
Filming will shut down much of the old city, with around fifteen locations between streets and squares having access restricted for vehicles and pedestrians. The city council has set up a website with a calendar informing local residents and shopkeepers who have passes to access to shops and homes. In addition, five businesses, including the bars Arc and Bau-Bar in the cathedral square as well as the Bistrot restaurant in pujada St. Dominic will be forced to close some hours or days during the filming and in this case they will receive compensation from the producer.
Secrecy surrounds filming and nothing about the plot or scenes to be filmed in Girona has got out. The sixth season in fact began filming in early July in Northern Ireland, as the Anglo-American production team has its headquarters in Belfast, at Paint Hall Studios, a former shipyard that is now one of the largest television studios in Europe. In Girona, scenes corresponding to the city of Braavos will be filmed. The fifth season ended there with Arya Stark becoming a novice in house of the Faceless Men. Braavos is an important enclave for another prominent female character: Daenerys Targaryen.