Spanish town hopes for 'Game of Thrones' tourism boost

Fans of the "Game of Thrones" fantasy TV series are flocking to the historic Spanish town of Osuna, where part of its fifth season is being filmed, fuelling hopes the show will deliver a lasting tourism boost.
      
The tourism information centre in the southern town has extended its hours since filming began on October 16 to deal with the influx and hotels are fully booked until the end of the month when filming ends.
      
"It's crazy. Everyone is very excited. They want to take photos with the actors, at the locations used in filming," the owner of the 30-room Hotel Esmeralda in Osuna, Alberto Piedra, told AFP.
      
Officials hope the show will continue to spur interest in visiting Osuna, with its 16th century palazzos and steepled churches, long after the episodes filmed in the town air around the world next year.
      
To attract fans of the series after film crews have left, Osuna's business association plans to offer special location tours while one restaurant will redecorate in a "Game of Thrones" theme.
      
The town hall is also thinking of setting up a museum dedicated to the film shoot and will update its tourism web page to highlight the sites featured in the series, Osuna mayor Rosario Andujar said.
      
"We want to make the most of the fact that part of the fifth season of this series was filmed here," she told AFP.
      
Producers of the series plan to film in Spain for 17 days, until the 30, mostly in Osuna, a hillside town surrounded by olive groves that is home to around 18,000 people.
      
Film crews moved to Osuna after shooting for a few days at the Real Alcazar palace, a masterpiece of Islamic architecture packed with columned courtyards, in Seville, about 80...