FACT#110: When David Benioff and D.B. first revealed that Season 5 of Game Of Thrones would include flashbacks, the showrunners were also asked about the possibility of returning to Spain to film Season 6. They praised Seville and Osuna's accommodations, but were coy about confirming a return for next year. The follow-up news reports on filming in the Andalusia region have revealed a steady undercurrent of discussion about the economics involved in international filmmaking.
Whenever major film or television productions pick a location in which to shoot, tourism for that region invariably rises. Dubrovnik, the Croatian city that doubles as King's Landing, has seen a 24 percent increase in tourism in the three years since Thrones began using it to stand in as the capital city of Westeros. Andalusia, a prime tourist-y area, has similarly seen a 30 percent jump in tourism ("Con este rodaje, las visitas turísticas al municipio han aumentado casi un 30 por ciento en los últimos meses.") since filming began. The cities that host Thrones filming also encourage tourism in various ways....
Dubrovnik has crafted a walking tour for fans to visit all of the filming locations used in the show; Seville's councilor for Employment, Economy, Festivals, and Tourism recently announced the creation of a guidebook to guide visitors to same. Belfast has played host to the international Game of Throne exhibition, which features a unique opportunity to climb the Wall via virtual reality newcomer Oculus Rift. (Iceland is less forthcoming with specific financial figures, but has its own version of a guided location tour as well.)
These boosts in tourism correspond to positive benefits for the economy. Last year, Thrones generated $32 million for Northern Ireland, the headquarters for GoT filming and the main outdoor location for Winterfell and Northern Westeros. (The year before that, the show generated around $98 million.) The show also creates a boatload of short-term jobs. In Dubrovnik, approximately 10,000 people apply for 1,000 jobs each year. In Spain, a call for about 600 extras for a key fight scene prompted a flood of applications - 86,000 in all, and a server meltdown to boot. (One filming report mentioned at least 200 locals working on-set.) These things matter a great deal in countries like Croatia and Spain, which are both dealing with high unemployment rates. The Andalusia region is at 34.7 percent unemployment, one of the highest in Spain. Croatia is sitting at 17.7 percent - better than Spain's 24.47 reported in August 2014, though nearly half of all young Dubrovnik citizens are unemployed. (The CIA World Factbook calls Croatia's unemployment rate "stubbornly high"; it reports an estimated 21.6 percent unemployment in 2013 and 19.1 percent in 2012.)
So there's a lot to gain by keeping Game Of Thrones around for a few years. But a rather unfortunate barrier stands in HBO's way. Unlike Croatia, Northern Ireland, and Iceland, Spain currently offers no subsidies for international film crews. Fortunately, according to Spanish Film Commission president Carlos Rosado, a bill is already making its way through parliament to alleviate the cost of filming by about 15 percent. Thus, if the show is indeed destined to return to Spain for the sixth season, it should theoretically be cheaper than it is this year.
Filming is still on-going in Andalusia, so we don't yet know the long-term impact the show's presence will have on the region. But if the enthusiastic response to the filming announcements and casting calls is any indication, the citizens will be more than happy to welcome the show back in 2015. And hopefully next year, the real-life Iron Bank and the winds of winter (or, in this case, autumn) are kinder to it as well.
