There are lots of reasons to book a villa in Spain – the weather, the varied and lovely landscapes, the famous beaches and seaside towns, the food, the wine, the culture, the stunning historic towns, and buzzy cosmopolitan cities – but fans of The Walking Dead series and its spin-offs have a new great reason after the latest season of Daryl Dixon. Following one of the most beloved characters from the franchise, the eponymous Daryl Dixon played by Norman Reedus, this show charts his adventures in Europe after getting stranded there and his attempts to return to his fellow TWD characters back in America. After two seasons in France, the third season, which recently finished airing, was set in Spain and showcased the incredible beauty of the country, even in a post-apocalyptic scenario. So, if you’re a super-fan who’d like to tread in the footsteps of your favourite characters or if you’ve simply gotten the travel bug after watching the show, here’s a guide to seeking out the wonderful locations showcased in Daryl Dixon…
Daryl Dixon: Costa Da Morte
The subtitle of season three of Daryl Dixon is Costa Da Morte, referring to the area where much of the season is set, a real stretch of the coast of Galicia by the same name. This is where Daryl and best friend Carol wash up after a failed attempt to sail to America from London at the beginning of the season. We spend plenty of time on the beach with their boat but we also visit Valentina’s lighthouse multiple times, which is one of the many lighthouses along the famously treacherous coastline of Costa Da Morte, the very real Faro de Punta Nariga. This area is popular for hiking, with routes specifically visiting the lighthouses so if you’re thinking about booking a vacation rental in Galicia, a hike along the scary-sounding but picturesque Costa Da Morte (without having to run away from zombies) sounds like a great way to stretch your legs!
Solaz del Mar
Upon arrival on a beach along this coast, Daryl and Carol get into various scrapes before ending up in the town of Solaz del Mar. This charming and historic Spanish wall town is a settlement that has managed to survive the zombie outbreak in part due to the old defensive architecture of the town. The filming location for many scenes in the fictional Solaz del Mar is actually the charming town Sepúlveda, much further inland in Segovia, in the region of Castile and León, and not actually in Galicia at all! Locals were cast as extras and played the townspeople and walkers (zombies). If you want to walk these streets that became so familiar in the show yourself be sure to make a point to plan a day-trip to the town during your holiday in Spain.
Other parts of Spain
Some scenery and background shots were also filmed in Galicia, however a variety of locations were used for the show, so you really could do a bit of a Walking Dead tour of Spain if you wanted to seek out even more of these. Madrid, Bilbao, Andalucía, and Toledo were used for other scenes and much of the London and UK filming was actually done on sets built in Spain with the use of green screens, though establishing shots were filmed on the Thames in London, at the Seven Sisters, and along the southern coastline.
Reedus himself specifically highlighted the use of filming locations previously used in the production of spaghetti Westerns such as the Tabernas Desert for episode 5, in which he got to really channel this cowboy atmosphere. In fact, a photo of Reedus shared by the Civil Guard of Zaragoza in which they jokingly pretended to have arrested him while he was filming these scenes in the Lower Aragon and Zaragoza went viral last year. In the same episode, Daryl encounters a colony of lepers who are living in an abandoned town, which was filmed in the real ruined town of Belchite, a ghostly but beautiful place frozen in time. This makes for the perfect setting for a true Western-style stand-off and a fascinating day-trip visit during your Walking Dead vacation in Spain.
In episode six, we go to Barcelona where you see the ruined city post-zombie plague from Tibidado, a hill and famous viewpoint that is a wonderful place to take in the non-ruined city if you book a vacation rental in Barcelona. You probably won’t see walkers in the iconic Ferris wheel but you’ll be able to ride it yourself instead, which is much better!
Another key setting in the season is the Alcázar of Seville, the former royal palace which is occupied by a monarchy and nobility once more in the show, where all sorts of chaos ensues. Again, while you may not be able to catch a marionette show with zombies, the stunning interiors are well-worth seeing in all their glory if you find a holiday rental in Andalusia and are planning a day-trip to Seville – especially if you can imagine those crazy scenes while you’re there!
Daryl Dixon season four will continue shooting in Spain so we’re sure to get more iconic scenes of the beloved cult show but, for now, these are the key locations to visit on a Walking Dead tour on holiday in Spain!
