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Girona becomes a fairy tale kingdom with the filming of 'Embolicats'
Disney transforms the Cathedral and the Old Town into the stage for the live-action version of the story of Rapunzel, a production that will also visit Alicante, Tarragona and Burgos.
Girona has recently become a huge film set. Disney has landed in the city with a team of around 500 people to film the live-action version of 'Tangled', the adaptation of the popular tale of Rapunzel, and has begun a spectacular transformation of some of the most emblematic spaces in the Old Town. The Cathedral, its staircase and several streets in the historic centre have been adapted to recreate a medieval atmosphere typical of the fantastic world of the film.
The Catalan city will be one of the prominent locations of a production that will have several stages in Spain. Although Girona will host part of the exterior filming, the main base of the project is planned to be installed in Alicante, specifically in the audiovisual center of the City of Light, a complex specially prepared to combine large exterior scenes with filming on set with high-level cinematographic equipment.
The decision for the production to have Alicante as one of its main logistics centers was advanced by the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, who highlighted the impact that the arrival of an international project of this size will have. In addition to Alicante and Girona, it is expected that the filming may incorporate other locations, including Tarragona, as well as different spaces in the Valencian Community and the city of Burgos.
In Girona, the preparatory work has turned the interior and exterior of the Cathedral into a cinematic set. In the nave of the temple, large curtains have been installed on the semicircular arches and some decorative elements can already be seen, such as thrones and lion-shaped sculptures. On the outside, the monumental staircase has been modified with a platform with a medieval aesthetic, while different pipes and urban elements have been covered to simulate architectural structures typical of a fantasy kingdom.
Filming, surrounded by a high level of security and secrecy, will begin this week and will continue until August 3. During this period, several areas of the Old Quarter will be subject to access and mobility restrictions. Disney and the production team have maintained absolute secrecy about the details of the filming, although it has been known that the Cathedral will be the setting for a coronation scene.
The preparation of the set has already aroused the curiosity of residents and visitors. Tourists and citizens have been able to observe how the workers worked on the conversion of some of the most iconic corners of Girona. In the central section of the Cathedral's steps, wooden structures and a platform decorated with elements that evoke a medieval atmosphere, such as torches and ornaments inspired by the aesthetics of a palace, have been placed.
Carrer dels Manaies has also been integrated into the filming transformation. In this space, the production teams have worked on the decoration of various urban elements, applying golden patinas to structures that simulate columns decorated with fleurs de lis and that will allow modern installations to be hidden to maintain the visual coherence of the set.
The filming will involve impacts at different points in the historic center. To preserve the secrecy of the production, some streets will be restricted before reaching the recording areas and screens will be installed to prevent images from being captured during filming. The locations include, in addition to the Cathedral and its staircase, spaces such as Carrer dels Manaies, the Passeig Arqueològic, the Pujada de Sant Domènec and various sections of the wall.
This cinematic deployment also requires adapting daily life in the Old Quarter. Guided tours have had to organize new routes and there will be days when access to the Cathedral will not be possible for visitors. However, residents of the affected areas will be able to access their homes normally, except during specific times when specific scenes are being filmed.
Girona City Council has worked with the production teams to coordinate the logistics of the project, reserving spaces for technical vehicles at different points in the historic center, as well as in the Copa area and the parking lot on the Camí de la Font de l'Abat. Spaces such as Casa Sarraïnes and the Girona History Museum have also been set up as support points for the team.
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