'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Has Caused Tourism Overload on Tiny Spanish Island
What won't "Game of Thrones" fans do to celebrate their favorite show? The HBO mega-hit series has inspired fans to buy dogs they probably shouldn't, name said dogs after show characters, and now flock to a tiny island off the coast of Spain.
Since "Game of Thrones" sent Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) back to her ancestral home, Dragonstone, in Season 7, tourists have been traveling in droves to the islet where the scenes were filmed. Called San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the small island is off the Basque coast, and it has seen a huge spike in tourism this summer, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais. In July alone, 75,000 tourists visited.
Although the Targaryen castle doesn't actually sit on the islet, fans can see the twisty stairs shown on "Game of Thrones." (We can only imagine how many selfies have been taken there in recent months.) There is also a chapel on the islet that was already a tourist attraction. Numbers, however, have approximately doubled, one local business owner told El Pais, and she says it "has been a blessing."
There is one drawback to all of the visitors, though: The bell that tourists ring after climbing the 241 steps has been working overtime. Not surprisingly, not everyone likes the noise.
We'll see where else "Game of Thrones" inspires fans to travel to when Season 8 premieres in late 2018 or early 2019.
[via: El Pais]