Saturday, July 2, 2011

The smurf village or blue village in Andalucía

Nestled in the Serranía de Ronda, Júzcar is now seeing hordes of tourists due to its very unusual attraction... This charming pueblo blanco or white village has been turned into a striking blue village to host the launch of the new Smurf cartoon “The Smurfs 3D”!

This little traditional Andalucian sleeping village hidden in the Genal Valley within forests of sweet chestnuts and against a dramatic backdrop formed by limestone craggy outcrops, just 20 minutes south of Ronda, was thought to be the perfect place to launch Sony’s Smurf cartoon worldwide premiere. And what a fun idea! The very small population of Júzcar felt it was a great idea (they have such a great sense of humour) and agreed to have the entire village painted in blue for the duration of the summer...  Come September, the village will turn to its traditional whitewash again.

All in all, it is very surreal to walk around a complete blue village (including its church) but the colour is beautifully complemented by the contrasting splashes of colours of the geraniums and bougainvilleas. It is actually quite charming, reminiscent of Chefchaouen albeit less subtle with just one shade of blue.

It seems that The Smurfs or “Los Pitufos” has been exceedingly popular in Spain in the 80s when this cartoon first came out and they are all very enthusiastic with the new release.  So far, the inhabitants of Júzcar are not showing any signs of having the blues yet and everybody seems to be enjoying it and not minding the increasing number of people flocking to their village to see this blue wonder. Some even have asked if they could keep their house blue...  They are also going to have a craft market on Saturdays throughout the summer to make the most of this sudden influx of people.

If you fancy going to see this Smurf village for yourself, try and make it a week day as it is very crowded during the weekend, to say the least but avoid Mondays as most bar/restaurants are closed.  If you fancied making a day out of it, why not visit some of the Alto Genal villages?
Coming from Ronda, on the Ronda/San Pedro road, take the first turning on the right hand side before the Petrol station "La Ventilla" and then take the first left to go and see Parauta, a pueblo ecológico part of the Biosphere of La Sierra de las Nieves, with its artistic cobbles and the only remaining Moorish arch (Plaza de la Constitución). Follow Parking signs and park by the church as there are very limited amount of places to park in the village centre.  
Turn back onto the road you came from and at the t-junction, turn left. The next village you will be coming to is Cartajima, the highest village in Malaga province (846m). Turn left into the village and park in the car park signposted for the Hotel Castaño or on the road. It is mostly outstanding for its lovely views over the surrounding mountains and villages (Parauta and Pujerra).

Return to the road and turn left to continue to Júzcar, the Smurf village. Do also visit the newly opened Centro micológico (the mushroom centre) next to the church – it is well done and shows how rich this area is in quality mushrooms.

Then continue onto the same road to Farajan. Notice its lovely church with its well preserved Minaret (most of the churches were built onto Mosques after the Catholic Reconquest) and the particular architecture of its chimneys.

Then, continue onto the last Alto Genal village, Alpandeire, with its imposing cathedral sized pink church. Best to park at the entrance of the village as streets are very narrow. Note round bulges in houses that indicates indoor private wells. Many houses here have one.  This village is mainly famous for being the birth place of Fray Leopoldo, a well known monk who has just been sanctified by Rome. From the Fray Leopoldo view point, you can see Morocco on clear days.
Continue your journey on the same road, and you will come to the Ronda/Algeciras road. At the T-junction, turn right to get to Ronda.
However, if you would like to do a morning walk in the Genal Valley, while it's still cool before visiting the blue village, why not let me guide you? Visit the following link for more information on our guided day walks
I hope you will have a great day out! Let me know how it went.

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