Game of Thrones
The battle in the Dornish Water Gardens, featuring Obara Sand (Keisha Castle-Hughes, pictured), in episode 6 of "Game of Thrones" Season 5 was shot in Seville, Spain. HBO

Fans are still caught up in Season 5 of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” – and still reeling from episode 6’s shocking ending – but preparations are already underway for Season 6 of the popular fantasy series. “Game of Thrones” looks to be headed back to Spain later this summer as the show keeps pushing forward with production, despite eclipsing George R.R. Martin’s novels.

During an interview on Spain’s RAC1 [via El País], Jordi Bosch, the chairman of Endemol, one of the show’s producing partners in Spain, said that “Game of Thrones” will likely be returning to Spain to shoot some of Season 6 in the city of Girona. Girona, a city of approximately 100,00 people in the northeast of the country, would probably serve as a stand in for the fictional kingdom of Dorne. The Spanish cities of Osuna and Seville were used to represent Dorne in the current Season 5. The fray in the Water Gardens over Myrcella Baratheon (Nell Tiger Free) in episode 6 was filmed in the gardens in the Alcázar of Seville, a Moorish castle in the city.

Dorne has become a major location in “Game of Thrones” Season 5. Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was sent to the country by Cersei (Lena Headey) to bring back Myrcella, while the Sand Snakes, the warrior daughters of the late Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), have been plotting to kidnap the princess as revenge for their father’s death. Meanwhile, Prince Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig) has been determined to keep the uneasy peace between Dorne and the rest of Westeros. The conflict culminated in episode 6’s Water Gardens showdown, where both the Sand Snakes and Jaime Lannister were taken prisoner.

It is hard to predict what scenes Girona might be used for in Season 6, as “Game of Thrones” will have surpassed its source material by next year. George R.R. Martin’s delay in finishing the sixth book in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series has forced the show to continue on its own with producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss calling the shots.

Season 6 of “Game of Thrones” will begin filming later this summer. Fans can currently watch Season 5 on Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.

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