The town of Juzcar is located in the valley of the Genal river, in Andalusia, in southern Spain. Its mountainous landscape is home to about 15 towns surrounded by trees such as oaks, pines and, mainly, chestnut trees, which are one of the economic bases of many of these towns. Sony Pictures chose Juzcar to host an event to promote its new release “The Smurfs 3D”. There was only one catch: all the houses in the village would have to be painted in Smurf blue! Nearly all the 250 inhabitants accepted and were thrilled as they saw it as an economic opportunity and good for tourism. Only one house in the village would remain white, as its owner didn’t want it painted.
I really wanted to know why Sony chose Juzcar and not another town. I am familiar with the town and its surroundings, as I live only 26 km (16 miles) away. On the way to the village, I pretended I was from Sony and was going to visit the area. To go by car is not easy, it has a charming but narrow and winding road. I became completely absorbed by the natural surroundings. Suddenly everything seemed like the Smurf cartoons, with their villages hidden in the woods.
As I arrived I was surprised to see the village entirely Smurf blue. Normally houses in these typical Andalusian villages are completely white. I saw painters having a break at the entrance to the village and I quickly took my first picture.
The painters decided to go for lunch and wait for another truckload of blue paint, after they ran out. They said they’ve used 9,000 liters (2,377 gallons) so far. While they had lunch I decided to take pictures of the villagers. I saw an elderly couple making the final touches of blue to their facade.
While taking pictures of them they didn’t stop telling spicy jokes, laughing and clowning around. They reminded me of Smurfette and Jokey Smurf, just like in the Smurf cartoons! Smurfette asked me if I had seen the village’s Myclology (study of mushrooms) center. (Yet another similarity to the Smurfs!)
