Smurf Village in Andalusia

In the heart of Andalusia, in the province of Málaga, there is a unique village - Huskar (Spanish: Júzcar), known as the "blue village" . It used to be a typical white Andalusian village, until in 2011 the film company Sony Pictures appeared .

Sony chose this very place to promote the movie "The Smurfs" and then all 175 houses, a church and even a cemetery - were painted blue!

At first the locals thought the change was temporary, but when they saw that the village was attracting thousands of tourists, they decided to keep the blue color.

Today, Huskar is a real tourist attraction - the walls are decorated and beautified with murals with Smurf characters, souvenir shops offer Smurf figurines, and visitors call it the first Smurf village in the world.

About 4,000 liters of blue paint were used for this unusual transformation, and 12 local painters participated. Although it was originally planned to return the village to white after the promotion, the locals decided to keep the blue color in a referendum, which significantly increased the number of tourists.

Although there were initially statues of Smurfette, Big Smurf and Nerd, they were removed in 2017 due to disputes over the rights to use the characters. However, the village continued to attract visitors thanks to its unique blue color and cultural heritage.

Although the Smurf characters have been removed, the village is still popular with tourists. Visitors can buy authentic souvenirs, enjoy local specialties, and explore the walkways and paths that lead through the forest. About 80,000 tourists visit the village annually, which is a significant increase compared to the previous 9,000 visitors per year before the painting.