We
heard about this strange place from one of my students in the language school where
I teach. She told us that there’s a village somewhere in Andalusia where all
the houses are painted blue. We didn’t need to hear more on the matter and as
soon as we had a chance we went to investigate.
This
is how the story goes. Just before the premiere of the Smurfs film (Pitufos in Spanish) somebody at
Sony came up with the idea of finding a whole village which could be painted
blue to promote the film in Spain. The ‘pueblos blancos’ or ‘white villages’ of
Andalusia seemed like the perfect starting point and eventually they settled on
this tiny little place hidden amongst the mountain.
The
call came from Sony offering them the chance and the free paint with the
promise of painting the houses back to white after half a year. The village got
together, discussed the matter and decided to give it a go. From then on their
whole world turned upside down.
Their
little village which had seen about a hundred tourists a year (if that much)
was suddenly swarmed by visitors from all over the world who wanted to see the
blue houses. The place recognised the potential and suddenly the business of
tourism was flowering on its streets. Júzcar just in one summer was seen by over
80,000 people!
After
half a year the call came again from Sony offering the delivery of the white
paint. The locals got together and with only a few exceptions they all voted to
keep the colour. Some of them were even wearing a smurf outfit for the
discussion! Must have been quite a sight.
And
this is the story of the Smurf Village of Júzcar. Enjoy the photos.
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