Juzcar, the blue village of Andalusia

Andalusia is a wonderful region and one of its main tourist attractions, besides the great historic cities – Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Ronda – is the clustered white village on the mountains and hills. And among these white villages in Andalusia, you must visit a very beautiful one, called Juzcar. Its beautiful blue color is not accidental, as you are about to find out in today’s article.

Coming by car from the Costa del Sol, on the way to Ronda and its spectacular canyon, Juzcar is just a few kilometers away, located in Valle del Genal. Since 2011 this small town has become a favorite weekend destination for those who love rural tourism and hiking.

At one point, Sony Pictures suggested that villagers paint all their houses in blue to promote the company’s next movie, The Smurfs. The reason they chose Juzcar is that there are a lot of mushrooms in the surrounding hills, the favorite food of blue creatures and the locality has a great tradition of mushroom picking and cooking.

The villagers did not initially agree with the idea, perhaps because the financial return was not worth it, but in the end the city council voted unanimously to approve it. Of course, provided that after the marketing campaign ends, Sony will redesign the houses in white as they used to be.

Sony has completely transformed the village, which not only became blue, but became filled with the popular characters of the series – Papa Smurf, Strumfette, Gargamel, Clumsy, Grouchy and the others.

The surprise came when the villagers decided they did not want to go back to white, preferring a more “blue” life. But why? The answer is clear: 80,000 tourists visited the site and soon tourist trips to this village and other Andalusian cities increased dramatically.

Juzcar, the blue surprise

Juzcar is not a classic village type, but has an irregular structure of streets, and houses rise magically on forested hills. The atmosphere was used to be dull and the tourists rarely came to visit the place. The blue village once seemed to be asleep, before Sony stepped in and accidentally brought the city to life.

In addition to the the drawings on the walls, the elements taken from the animation series and the local branding of the smurf teme, Juzcar boasts a church built in the 16th century, a Mauri Cave and the ruins of a tin factory dating from the 18th century (opened in 1731), and which was, in fact, the first of its kind in Spain. The factory had about 200 workers, and German and Swiss technicians had been sent here to teach the locals how to make tinware.

Unfortunately there are not many restaurants in this small town, but Juzcar is well worth the visit. It is one of the places where both you and your children will have a great time.