Mother Nature doesn’t care about your shooting schedule, or your HBO budget.
HBO has halted part of production onEl caballero de los Siete Reinos(“The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”), after a sudden flood in Spain’s Canary Islands swallowed pieces of the show’s set. The local outletAtlántico Hoyreports crews were filming on Gran Canaria near the Las Niñas reservoir when heavy rain sent water levels climbing fast enough to make the location unusable.
The timing stings. HBO is pushing hard to get Season 2 of thisGame of Thronesuniverse spinoff in the can, and the Canaries were picked for the same reason every big production picks them: dramatic landscapes that look expensive on camera. Then the weather showed up and reminded everyone who’s in charge.
A storm system called “Therese” turned a set into a bathtub
According toAtlántico Hoy, the culprit wasborrasca Therese, a low-pressure storm system that dumped serious rain in the island’s higher elevations. The runoff pushed the reservoir up enough tosubmergestructures built specifically for the series.
And once your set is underwater, the romantic “we’re shooting on location” vibe disappears real fast. Access roads get sketchy. Safety officers start saying “absolutely not.” Gear gets stuck. Crews get sent home. And every lost day burns money across dozens of line items, equipment rentals, actor availability, local contractors, you name it.
Las Niñas reservoir hit levels locals haven’t seen in 15+ years
The breaking point was thepresa de Las Niñas, a reservoir tucked into Gran Canaria’s mountainous interior.Atlántico Hoysays the water rose to marks not seen inmore than 15 years.
That’s the dirty little secret of “authentic” outdoor filming: productions love building close to water because it looks great. But water has a habit of moving wherever it wants, whenever it wants. And temporary sets aren’t exactly designed to take a surprise soaking.
The Canaries also come with a logistical tax. When something goes sideways on an island, you can’t just snap your fingers and conjure a replacement location, permits, housing, transport, and materials. You’re either waiting it out, or you’re leaving.
HBO is shifting production to mainland Spain, even though the site was booked until May 15
Atlántico Hoyreports the production had the area reserved fromFebruary 23 through May 15, which tells you this wasn’t a quick postcard stop. This was a multi-week setup: build, shoot multiple sequences, strike the set.
Now that plan is toast. And when a contracted schedule gets blown up by a flood, the grown-up conversations start: who eats the costs, what insurance covers, and how fast the production can patch the calendar before it dominoes into bigger delays.
The move to mainland Spain was confirmed byRaúl García Brink, Gran Canaria’s environment councilor (part of the island government known as theCabildo), quoted byAtlántico Hoy. Translation: this isn’t just an internal studio headache. Local authorities are involved because the location, and whatever’s been left in it, falls under their watch.
Mainland Spain gives HBO more options: more vendors, easier transport, more backup plans if the sky opens up again. The tradeoff is visual continuity. Fans of anything in theThronesorbit notice when the rocks, horizons, and light don’t match. The crew can cheat it with angles, color grading, VFX, and partial builds, but none of that is free.
The Canary Islands government wants a plan to remove submerged equipment
HBO’s problem isn’t over just because the trucks roll onto a ferry.Atlántico Hoysays the production must submit anaction planto the Canary Islands government to removeequipmentstill underwater.
There’s a catch: they can’t retrieve much until the water drops. So even if filming continues elsewhere, the Canary Islands situation stays open, inventorying what’s submerged, assessing hazards, coordinating with officials, and potentially hiring specialized crews to extract and restore the site.
This is the part studios hate, because it can turn into a political story. Film and TV shoots are usually welcomed for the local spending they bring. But goodwill evaporates if a production looks sloppy about cleanup, even when the original damage came from weather. Requiring a formal plan is the government’s way of preventing a “we’ll figure it out later” mess.
Atlántico Hoyadds that as ofApril 11, people could access Las Niñas again without trouble. That doesn’t mean a film set can safely restart there, waterlogged structures, unstable ground, and safety sign-offs can keep a location dead long after tourists can walk through.
Girona and Spain’s Basque Country are the obvious backup picks
The likely replacements being floated:Gironaand theBasque Country, both experienced hosts for big medieval-ish productions. Girona is familiar territory forGame of Thronesfans, it’s been used before for major scenes. The Basque Country offers a mix of coastline and rugged terrain that can double for a lot of “fantasy Europe” with the right framing.
The key isn’t just beauty, it’s speed. A replacement location has to be filmable quickly, permit-friendly, and capable of absorbing a large crew without collapsing under the weight of trucks, lodging needs, and tight schedules. Regions that do this regularly have the muscle memory: officials who know the drill, local technicians, and infrastructure that won’t buckle.
Still unknown: what, exactly, HBO planned to shoot at Las Niñas, and how much rewriting or reblocking will be needed to keep the original intent. The next locations they choose will tell you whether they’re trying to match the Canaries shot-for-shot, or pivoting and daring the audience to notice.
