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Monday June 20, 2011

Why a small village in Spain is feeling blue


Out of the blue, the tiny, traditional village of Juzcar, a pueblo blanco in the Genel Valley in Andalucía has found sudden fame as Sony’s chosen venue for hosting the world premiere of The Smurfs 3D. But becoming the blue-eyed boy of the valley has come at a price. To satisfy the forthcoming invasion of tiny smurfs, known as pitufos in Spanish, the dazzling white village of Juzcar, including its historic church has had to turn-literally- blue.

In preparation for the big launch on 16, June, twelve local painters using 4000 litres of blue paint have been needed to transform Juzcar’s quaint houses and historic buildings so that they resemble those in the film’s smurf village. There have been no objections to the idea with both the local bishopric and regional government of Andalucía, giving their joint blessing. Such is the excitement at the prospect of the pitufos hitting the valley that swarms of enthusiastic tourists have already begun visiting the sleepy village in advance of the big event.

Although Sony has vowed to restore Juzcar to its former white glory after the launch, canny residents are toying with the idea of keeping their village blue. With the huge following that smurfs, or pitufos, command, locals believe that Juzcar could become a tourist hot spot left in its new blue livery. It has been mooted that they create “La Ruta del Pitufo” creating a lively tourist industry in the heart of the village.

Should the villagers dream of future prosperity come true, there’ll no doubt be a lot of nearby villages turning blue with envy.

First appeared http://my.telegraph.co.uk/expat/annanicholas/10143501/why-a-small-spanish-village-is-feeling-blue/



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