Spanish 'Smurfs' town attracts tourists

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JUZCAR, Spain, April 19 (UPI) -- The mayor of a small Spanish town said the village has seen a dramatic increase in tourism since its homes were painted blue for last year's film "The Smurfs."

Mayor David Fernandez Tirado of Juzcar said his village has received about 125,000 visitors since the film came out last summer and residents voted in December 2011 to keep the village blue to spur tourism, The Telegraph, Britain, reported Thursday.

"The number of visits is not going down," Tirado said. "Apart from colder, wintry days, it's been quite the opposite -- it's continuing to spark a lot of interest."

The village was painted blue in 2011 to film scenes for "The Smurfs" and villagers are now holding weekly "Smurf markets" to sell Smurf-related souvenirs and foods.

Tirado said the blue color of the village's houses might not be permanent.

"We'll see how everything is going in a while," he said.