Monday 26 August 2013

Smurf village of Júzcar

While Andalusia is famous for its white villages, there's also Júzcar, one that's completely blue. Reason for this is every bit as weird as the village itself.

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Andalusia is famous for the white villages like Benalmadena and Ardales which dot its majestic mountains. Then there's Júzcar, a blue village located in the mountains of Serrania de Ronda around 22 kilometres from Ronda and approximately 100 kilometres from Malaga. 









In the spring of 2011 Sony Pictures had all the village (yes, that includes the church AND the gravestones!) painted blue as a part of a worldwide campaign promoting the release of the Smurf movie. Back then the village was estimated to attract around 300 visitors annually. in the six months after the lick of paint the number went over 80 000.






In December that year Sony offered to restore the village back to its whitewashed glory. But what did the villagers do? They had a vote and decided to remain blue. In a small village like this, especially in the current economical situation, the livelihood needs to be taken from where ever they can. No matter what the colour.




Perhaps inspired by this another Andalusian village came up with a plan of their own. A mastermind behind it was an entrepreneur whose brainchild was to paint all 300 houses of the village of Moclinejo pink, rename the streets after famous gay artists and even build a park specifically for cruising (nope, nothing to do with boats...) This plan, however, has so far failed to take off the ground...


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