If there is one thing that sleepy Júzcar, a small pueblo blanco at the end of a curving mountain highway near Ronda, can claim, it’s that Smurfs live among them. In this teeny village known for its mytocology and hiking trails, you might notice something that distinguishes it from the other so-called white villages in the region – the whole town is painted bright blue!
This hamlet perched high in the Valle del Genal has gained international fame thanks to Madrid-based publicity agency Bungalow25 (with whom I’m working on the Caser Expat ‘Typical Non-Spanish” project), Sony Pictures and more than 1000 gallons of paint.
Before the premiere of the Smurfs in 2011, Júzcar was a quick pit stop in the Serranía de Ronda, literally drawfed by other, more picturesque towns in the valley. Taking those words to heart, the town was doused in a layer of blue paint to boost tourism to an otherwise blip on a map. Cue allusions to ‘Pitufolandia’ and worldwide media fame.
While there’s not much to do in town – we were in, out and fed in an hour – the simple novelty is not lost. In fact, we were there on Día de Andalucía, along with half of the province! Bars were full, kids darting from cerulean shop to shop decked out in their own white smurf hats and parking was a nightmare, proving that a little bit of imagination can do wonders for tourism. That said, the town has yet to capitalize on it to its fullest extent!
If you go: Júzcar is best reached by car, but you can take local buses from Ronda, which is 25 kilometers to the northeast. Parking is free.
I visited Júzcar as part of my Typical Non Spanish project with Caser Expat Insurance and my promise to myself to do 52 new things in 2016! Anything I can’t miss – be it sites, experiences or food – around Andalucía?
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Looks like a fun little pitstop! The blue is a little too garish for my tastes, though, haha. I think it’s just amazing that the *entire* city got painted that shade of blue—you have to wonder if there were any protests or outcries from the locals who didn’t want to change from white to blue, but then again, maybe house paint is managed on a city-wide basis since so many of those pueblos blancos are painted white AND ONLY white.
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Yeah, it is a bit off-putting, but fun! And because the tourism has boomed and created jobs, I think even the most reluctant have probably come around!
I had no idea such a fun village existed. This is definitely great for taking kids to!!
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The place was swamped with kids!! Most of the activities were directed towards them, too.
This makes me so happy! I’ve never understood why more neighborhoods and towns don’t adopt exciting house colors. It makes such a difference — and drives tourism dollars!
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