Juzcar turns blue for the Smurfs

The news on everyones lips here in Ronda is blue Juzcar. You wouldnt think that turning a picturesque white village in the Alto Genal valley blue would create such a stir, but just about everyone I know is talking about it, going to see it, profiting from it or some I have to say resenting it; albeit in a quiet way. For some reason Sony decided that Juzcar was the perfect setting for the launch of its new Smurf movie The Smurfs 3D- it makes you wonder how they came to find it, let alone set the ball rolling for the mass painting of this sleepy white oops- sorry blue - village.

Historically the Smurfs created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo or Pierre Culliford lived in a land called "le pays maudit" which translates into English as the cursed land, strangely appropriate considering Spains current economic and social woes. They were forced to travel by stork through dense forests, dry deserts and high mountain ranges which is apparantly why they chose Juzcar for the premier- due to the Riscos mountains that surround the village and the dense chestnut forests that cover the steep mountainsides, although they seem to have overlooked that there is a distinct lack of Storks in the area.

Interestingly, the Smurfs apart from having their own language, also had their own economic system. Relying on their own unique skills as a means of currency, and thus in return being given all the necessities of life by the community which at the time lead them to be associated with the communists which wasnt all that good in the cold war climate of the early sixties. I cant help wondering in these tough times whether the country's leaders might be looking to Juzcar and the Smurfs for some much needed inspiration although the country seems to have turned to another shade of blue altogether.

If you want to witness this "blue" phenomenon you had better be quick as the village is set to be painted white again once the furore has died down. In the not too distant future the Smurfs and their ideals will once again be a thing of fantasy and we'll all be back in the real world of serious economic slowdown, crippling unemployment and families on the brink of economic collapse, but for now Juzcar is booming, the painters have jobs and the bars are fit to bursting.