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The townspeople have spoken: the small town of Juzcar in southern Spain will forever be blue.
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Huffington Post/ AP Photo/Sergio Torres |
| Juzcar, Spain is the world’s first “Smurf Village.” |
Or, at least the building façades will be.
The world’s first “Smurf Village” was painted blue as part of the publicity campaign for the Sony film “The Smurfs in 3D,” which opened in July. The village was selected as the location for the world premiere of the movie. See Huffington Post’s Smurf Village.
Sony promised to paint the village back to traditional white colors following the promotional blitz; however, the 221 citizens who call Juzcar home recently headed to the polls to vote on whether to keep the “Smurf Village” persona. An overwhelming majority, 141, said yes!
Mayor David Fernandaz told Spanish media that the color change has boosted the local economy during the current state of uncertain financial times.
“It’s increased our happiness, our dreams and our level of employment,” he said.
In addition to painting the once white-washed pueblo buildings blue, the village has embraced the “Smurf” culture with community events, fairs and competitions to support the steady flow of tourists.
An estimated 80,000 people have made the trek to Juzcar in the six months following the repainting—many multiples of to average of 300 tourists per year the town draws annually, on average, news reports said.
More than 1,000 gallons of light blue paint transformed the historic town’s image and forever changed its fortunes. The village may be Smurf-sized compared to larger burgs, but the little blue buildings are producing some big green returns.
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