'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 Will Feature Spanish Castles As Filming Locations

A desert in Navarre and castles in Santa Florentina are said to be some of the locations in Spain for “Game of Thrones” Season 6. Production of the TV series has yet to begin and casting for extras has been going on for the past few weeks.

According to Variety, HBO has confirmed that filming locations in Spain will include the Bardenas badlands in Navarre, castles in Santa Florentina and Zafra, and the Alcazaba fort in Almeria. The news has been confirmed by Ani Bundel of Winter Is Coming, who notes that a French premium cable channel has identified the locations in a news release. The report notes that Castillo de Santa Florentina is a medieval castle and the estate is said to cover about 49 acres.

Bundel says that filming at Castillo de Santa Florentina for “Game of Thrones” Season 6 is a “big deal” and that “whoever gets to film here is insanely lucky.” It is still unclear which part of the fantasy world will include the castles, but the report speculates it may be either Dorne or some part of Essos.

Pointing to one of the structures at Zafra Castle, Bundel said she was reminded of the Tower of Joy -- a place where Rhaegar Targaryen kept Lyanna Stark during Robert Baratheon’s rebellion. A report by Watchers On The Wall notes that every new location for the TV series has fans of the George RR Martin novels hoping to see the flashback scene at the Tower of Joy.

“Game of Thrones” Season 6 is slated to begin in April 2016. Production will reportedly begin by late July in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Many new characters are expected to be introduced next year, but the producers haven’t announced the names of the actors who have been cast.