Planning Easter holidays might be an easy task if you focus your rural or urban scape in discovering the best street art cities in Spain.
From north to south, our country exhibits the most talented and skilful decorations in an open air museum. Cooltourspain team members will now bring you the possibility to explore some regions/areas related to graffiti.
- Madrid
- Penelles (Lleida)
- Barcelona
- Fanzara (Castellón)
- Málaga
- La Bañeza (León)
- Castrogonzalo (Zamora)
The capitals representing the best street art cities.
Travellers not only from our territory but also from other parts of the world arrive year after year to Spain’s most visited capitals. They represent the best street art cities in the country, so let’s dig deeper into their scene and current artistic panorama.
Does there exist any similarity between them? Have you already visited any of the following places? What artists have you photographed in each location?
Madrid, a contrast of urban cultures
More than 3.2 million people live in the Spanish capital city. They come from different countries, each of them have its own traditions, and together make an open-minded community.
As a result, there exists several street art festivals, contemporary art fairs and graffiti crews in town who maintain the industries’ quality at the highest standard:
- Urvanity, modern art fair at COAM.
- CALLE Lavapiés, street art festival in Madrid.
- Circular, recycling urban art project in town.
Barcelona, avant garde & modern
Many Spaniards think that the only problem about Madrid is that it doesn’t have a coast line. On the other hand, Barcelona is probably the most important capital city watered by the Mediterranean Sea.
It is considered one of the best street art cities within the graffiti community. Did you know what hundreds of writers get to Barcelona from all over the world in order to paint at one of the MTB or Rodalies trains?
Besides that, Catalonia’s most populated city also counts with several graffiti walls where international & local artists can paint a wall without worrying about police. Just log in Wallspot and find your location!
Here is a brief list of urban art related events in Barcelona:
- Glòries urban art fest,
- Ús Barcelona,
- BAUM Fest, Barcelona art & urban movement
Málaga, a paradise in the South of Spain
Similarly to what happens in Barcelona, Málaga observes as it has entered in the list of best street art cities in Europe. Why?
- SOHO is one of the most famous districts for urban art in the city,
- MAUS project & CAC Málaga contribution to the industry,
- Lagunillas & BulevArt represent the off the beaten street art.
Obey, D*Face and Roa are some of the renowned urban art artists who have painted a commissioned wall in Andalucia, but you may also find Spanish artists like Sfhir, Boa Mistura or Suso33.
Smaller towns featured in our list of Spain’s best street art cities.
On the other hand, the best street art cities not necessarily need to be represented by overpopulated regions. That’s the case of the following towns, which have observed that graffiti and urban art could give a touristic interest to their villages.
These events take place once a year, but their artworks could be visited any time. These projects have created a large open air museum for their citizens & visitors.
Festival Gargar in Penelles, Lleida
If we think about Lleida, agriculture may pop in your head. Thanks to Gargar, you will now relate it to the best street art cities in Spain.
An urban art festival which turn year after year more than 900 square meters walls into an outdoor canvas. The event takes place in Penelles, a countryside village with no more than 500 inhabitants during winter time.
For instance, artists usually include these themes in their artworks:
- Local people’s daily life,
- Penelles’ natural environment,
- Traditional professions.
Fanzara, Castellón, one of the best street art cities around the world
A small town in Castellón province became notorious in the street art circuit because of its festival. It is called MIAU, which English language translation would be ‘Unfinished urban art museum’.
Artists from all over the country participate in an event which has gained popularity and fame:
- Pichiavo, Valencia
- Animalito Land
- El Rey de la Ruina
It is an alternative way of creating community and recovering the local memory and pride; it is a powerful tool to transmit values.
Joan Feliu. UJI University of Castellón
La Bañeza (León), where graffiti & hip hop meet
Art Aero Rap is part of the best street art cities in Spain because of their urban art festival. It’s not just painted walls, but a community of people with common interests.
Graffiti writers from the rest of the country travel to León’s mining regions during summer time in order to contribute with their creativity.
It’s thanks to these kind of events that modern art or post-graffiti might get to a wider audience, allowing kids and teenagers from less communicated areas getting into art.
Cooltourspain’s addition to the best street art cities in Spain
Last but not least, we would like to give credit to Castrogonzalo, another 500 inhabitants village located in Zamora.
Antonio Feliz ‘Parsec’ is a local artist who invites his fellow artists to paint in this town. It’s more of a friends gathering than just a street art event.
Have you ever driven through Castrogonzalo? It will surprise you!
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