Castildetierra, icon of the Bardenas Reales desert

What the manager says it is

Castildetierra, Bardena Blanca, Bardenas Reales — Castildetierra, Bardena Blanca. Photo by Vive Bardenas. The silhouette is seen from the track; climbing is forbidden.

In the park’s geomorphology, cabezos form because harder layers (conglomerates, sandstones, limestones) protect softer clays beneath. Castildetierra appears as the most extreme, spectacular example of a mesa tilted with the direction and dip of the materials. It stands in the Bardena Blanca, the most eroded central depression, with evolving badlands and gullies.

Visit Navarra describes it as a kind of inverted funnel, the icon of the site, on the circular Blanca track from Arguedas. The park’s places of interest help you locate the name on a map; they do not replace the day’s signage.

The volume can be turned in the 3D model. It is BiotanTec’s photogrammetry on Sketchfab, not a Vive Bardenas model, and it does not allow a climb.

How it fits a visit

Cabezo de Cortinillas, which is not Castildetierra — View of Cabezo de Cortinillas. Photo: Jean-Christophe BENOIST, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Resized. The climb path was still closed on 14/09/2026; do not confuse it with Castildetierra.

What other sites still get wrong

Checked on 14 September 2026. Notices can be lifted or replaced: the source is the notices page.

The Cabezo de Cortinillas path was still closed for rockfall (a 2021 notice, still published). It is not Castildetierra. It is not a plan B “because it is in photos”.
The track between the Perimetral and El Paso was still closed: do not build a Carcastillo circuit on that junction.
Climbing is forbidden across the territory. A famous silhouette does not authorise a scramble.

Visit Navarra recommends that roughly 25 km / two-hour car track for a first time, and a 1.15 km walk at Castildetierra and Barranco de las Cortinas. Confirm at the centre whether that walk and the stretch of track are open. On 14 September 2026 the Perimetral–El Paso closure and the Cabezo de Cortinillas path closure were still published: do not confuse Cortinillas with Castildetierra, and do not use a closed viewpoint as plan B.

Can you climb Castildetierra?

No. Climbing is forbidden across the territory. The silhouette is seen from the authorised track and, if it is open, from the 1.15 km walk.

Is it the Bardena Blanca viewpoint?

Visit Navarra does not publish a “mirador” sheet under that name. The Blanca icon is Castildetierra, on the circular track from Arguedas. A generic viewpoint pin does not replace the official plan.

Can Cortinillas stand in if Castildetierra is busy?

Not as a plan B. The Cabezo de Cortinillas path was still closed on 14/09/2026. It is not the same cabezo.

The photo does not authorise access

The rules allow non-professional photography in general-use zones and on free-transit paths, without disturbing wildlife or using recreational drones. They forbid climbing across the territory and driving off authorised tracks. A famous silhouette is not permission to jump a fence, park at the foot of the cabezo or stay after hours.

The Vive Bardenas cover photograph is by Jean-Christophe BENOIST, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. It is cropped on screen and does not show the current state of access.

To continue

First visit · By car · How to get there

Game of Thrones and other shoots

The Bardena Blanca has been the Dothraki Sea in Game of Thrones, James Bond’s Kazakhstan in The World Is Not Enough and the Mexican border in Ridley Scott’s The Counselor. If you are coming for the films, drive the Castildetierra track and walk the Barranco de las Cortinas: that is where the sources place most of the shoots. Expect no signs and no official exact spot, and never leave authorised tracks and paths to chase a camera angle. Visit Navarra and Spain.info confirm the filming; every detail below carries its own source.

Cabezo de la Pisquerra, Bardena Blanca. Photo: Bruno Barral, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Game of Thrones, season 6 (HBO, 2016)

What was filmed here: The Dothraki Sea in episodes 1 and 6 (Spain Screen Tourism): Daenerys captured by Khal Moro’s khalasar, and her speech from Drogon’s back. Shot from 22 to 25 September 2015 with about 300 crew and a casting call for 800 men and 400 women to play Dothraki (EITB, EITB, casting).
Where, according to sources: Bardena Blanca. A blog that followed the shoot puts the trailers about 200 m from Castildetierra and the base in Valtierra; Visit Navarra names Pisquerra as a hill you will “probably recognise from some film”.
What you can see today: Castildetierra, from the track and its car park. Pisquerra and the Rallón, on foot only, on the authorised paths of the ZEPA bird area (2026 notice).

Castildetierra, next to the Barranco de las Cortinas. Photo: Pere.page, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The World Is Not Enough (James Bond, 1999)

What was filmed here: The exteriors of the Kazakhstan nuclear facility where Bond (Pierce Brosnan) meets Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) and Renard (Robert Carlyle) (Wikipedia, MI6-HQ). The crew came here after shooting by the Guggenheim in Bilbao, in winter 1999.
Where, according to sources: The exact spot is not published. A Vrbo guide says one of the chimneys of the Barranco de las Cortinas appears in the background.
What you can see today: The 1.15 km Barranco de las Cortinas walk, next to Castildetierra.

View of Cabezo de Cortinillas. Photo: Jean-Christophe BENOIST, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Resized. The climb path was still closed on 14/09/2026; do not confuse it with Castildetierra.

The Counselor (Ridley Scott, 2013)

What was filmed here: With Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz (elDiario.es, Spain.info). The US–Mexico border was staged here.
Where, according to sources: Cortinillas, according to the Vrbo guide.
What you can see today: The Cabezo de Cortinillas is visible from the track; its path has been closed since 2021 because of rockfalls (park notice).

A hut beside a Bardena Blanca track. Photo: Michael Bliefert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Anacleto: Secret Agent (Javier Ruiz Caldera, 2015)

What was filmed here: A desert scene: Anacleto ditches his car and navigates by compass (Vrbo, elDiario.es, Spain Screen Tourism).
Where, according to sources: Cortinillas, according to Vrbo.
What you can see today: As for The Counselor.

Panorama of the Bardena Blanca. Photo: Iarbelomoz1, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (Terry Gilliam, 2000 shoot)

What was filmed here: The Bardenas were the first location of the September 2000 shoot. On day one, jets from the firing range ruined the sound; on day two, a flash flood with hail damaged the equipment; then Jean Rochefort injured his back and the production was cancelled in November (Wikipedia). The documentary Lost in La Mancha (2002) tells the story (Wikipedia).
Where, according to sources: Not published.
What you can see today: The firing range is still active and off limits.

El Rallón, Bardena Blanca. Photo: jokin.lacalle, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Mutant Action (Álex de la Iglesia, 1993)

What was filmed here: The desert mining planet where the terrorists crash-land (Movie Locations, Gara).
Where, according to sources: Not published.
What you can see today: The Bardena Blanca landscape from the track.

A dirt track towards a cabezo. Photo by Vive Bardenas.

Airbag (Juanma Bajo Ulloa, 1997)

What was filmed here: Karra Elejalde, Alberto San Juan and Fernando Guillén Cuervo’s chase crosses the “lunar landscapes” of the Bardenas (Spain Screen Tourism, Gara).
Where, according to sources: Not published.
What you can see today: The Bardena Blanca landscape from the track.

Low light on the cabezos. Photo by Vive Bardenas.

Zip & Zap and the Captain’s Island (Oskar Santos, 2016)

What was filmed here: Scenes in the Bardenas and the Sierra de Urbasa (Spain Screen Tourism).
Where, according to sources: Not published.
What you can see today: The Bardena Blanca landscape from the track.

There have been more shoots than anyone can document: Visit Navarra speaks of “a multitude of adverts and films”, and the park charges per filming day, so car commercials and fashion shoots come through every year without a public record. We only list titles backed by a published source; others that circulate online, such as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, do not appear in the sources on their filming.

Can I visit the exact Game of Thrones location?

Partly. Castildetierra, where the crew set up according to a blog that followed the shoot, is visible from the Bardena Blanca track. Pisquerra lies inside the ZEPA “El Plano – Blanca Alta”, which since 16 September 2026 admits visitors only on foot and on authorised paths (park notice). There is no filming sign, and climbing the hills or leaving the track to recreate a shot is forbidden (regulations).

Where was The World Is Not Enough filmed?

The Bardenas provided the exteriors of the Kazakhstan nuclear facility where Bond meets Christmas Jones (Wikipedia). The rest came from elsewhere: Bilbao for the opening sequence by the Guggenheim and the Cuenca area for the pipeline (MI6-HQ). To see the landscape, the Barranco de las Cortinas walk is the closest match to what you see on screen.

Can I film or fly a drone like in the films?

Your own photos need no permit, but recreational drones are banned. A professional shoot needs park authorisation: €100 to process and €700 per day (€1,000 for a feature film), plus Spanish Air Force clearance for a drone. Even then, no one may fly over Castildetierra or within 50 metres of its chimney (park’s filming page, checked 31/10/2026).

Official sources

Park instructions and on-site signage take priority over this guide.