Why is the village this blue color?

In the spring of 2011, Júzcar was selected by Sony Pictures España to be the venue of an international promotional event for the then upcoming summer film release of "The Smurfs 3D" which included painting the village Smurf blue. All the residents of the village had to (and did) agree to have the white facades of their houses painted Smurf blue. The paint job started on 22 May 2011 and took about three weeks to complete using over nine thousand liters of Smurf blue paint.

On 16 June 2011, Sony held an international press event to promote their soon to released block-buster film with children from the Upper Genal Valley participating as well as many members of the press and villages residents from the surrounding areas. During the event, the president of Sony España presented the village of Júzcar with a memorial plaque which was mounted in the village plaza stating "Júzcar,  The First Smurf Village of the World"("Júzcar, el Primer Pueblo Pitufo del Mundo").  After the event, Júzcar's residents had all agreed that the village would remain blue through the end of the summer but unbeknownst to them, the theme of a blue village was so unusual that the people started coming and that traffic has, as of April 2012, not yet stopped.

In December 2011, a referendum was held by the Júzcar village-hall to determine when the village would revert to white; the outcome of the vote was to remain Smurf blue for the foreseeable future.  Sony, meanwhile, has announced a second Smurf film to be released in August 2013, “The Smurfs 2” (Smurfs are called "Pitufos" in Spain).

 

Prior to being painted blue, Júzcar was a traditional white village for hundreds of years and no doubt will revert to being a white village again at some point in the future (no date set for that).  As a typical Andalusian white village, Júzcar had the traditional offerings of any white village, Easter procession during Holy Week (“Semana Santa’), annual Andalusian Romería in June, annual festival for their patron saint in August (the Virgin of Moclón”) as well as being quite a well placed central location for visiting many interesting sites in Andalusia, both cultural and natural.

Here in Júzcar, one can still see eagles soaring on the hunt, vultures swirling in packs high in the sky, hopping cotton tailed bunny rabbits alongside the roads and hundreds of spring time wild flowers bursting with color; one can enjoy peaceful nights with a star filled sky, walks through the countryside on any one of the trails connecting the area's several villages or across the top of the mountain through the Riscos. The area is also quite suitable for photography, painting, mountain cycling caving and wild mushroom hunting.



While it is true that life in the village of Júzcar has changed since the blue theme arrived and the village, for the most part, is no longer sleepy, Júzcar and its environs are still a destination well worth exploring from a nature lover's perspective.  And for those coming for the Smurfs, at the moment the best time is at the weekends when the Smurf Market in the village plaza is open with various stalls as well as the village Smurf Store.  There is also a tourist office in the village plaza with local activity information as well as an information kiosk across from the hotel which is open during weekends and bank holidays.

Hotel Bandolero remains the same lovely and charming hotel it has always been. Eight spacious double rooms, six with wood-burning stoves and terraces with fantastic views of the surrounding glorious nature. The restaurant continues to provide quality food delivered by our in-house Cordon Bleu trained chef.