It was in 2016 when we first organized the Madrid graffiti tour and since then over 3,000 guests have participated in our unique experiences.
We specialize in small groups, but it’s during the months of March, April & May that school coordinators hire our services to let their students discover Madrid in a different way.
What will students observe during these 2 hours guided visit?
- Graffiti walls & social community centers
- Multicultural districts
- Local emergent artists
La Tabacalera as explained in our Madrid graffiti tour
Cooltourspain services have an over 95% customer satisfaction rate and it’s La Tabacalera the place that our guests usually like the most.
Let’s discover this unique cultural venue located right in the city center.
What’s the history hidden in this location?
In order to describe the history of an almost derilict building, we’d have to travel back to the XIX century.
La Tabacalera was Madrid’s most important tobacco factory. Over 3,000 women worked in the different labors:
- Cutting tobacco leaves
- Chopping them in order to have them in fine shavings
- Rolling cigarettes
The whole warehouse occupies over 16,000 square meters area, and there exist 3 floors where mostly female workers had to fight for their conditions.
What students may not know is that this location became such important spot for the women’s rights movement.
What do kids like the most about our Madrid graffiti tour first stop?
Elementary, middle and high school students love taking pictures with their mobile phones around Calle Miguel Servet.
24 internationally known artists decorate La Tabacalera’s outdoor walls during a festival called Muros Tabacalera, which takes place during the months of June (every other year).
Some of the local artists who participated in last year’s edition were:
- Gvilll3
- Boa Mistura
- NSN997
- Son3k
Different themes are chosen for every edition, and last 2019 featured “Azar”, which in English means propability/randomness/luck.
Lavapies, exploring the most multicultural district in town
Our most popular guided visit is the one that takes place around Lavapies district. It starts right by Teatro Valle Inclán (Calle de Valencia, 1)
We not only chose Lavapies because of its amazing street art & graffiti, but also because the history that lies on its buildings & amazing people.
Proud our artistic & cultural heritage
Embajadores district was recently chosen by Time Out Magazine as the coolest neighborhood where to live, and quite paradoxically our Madrid graffiti tour will show you around.
How do Cooltourspain team members engage students during the Madrid graffiti tour?
Cooltourspain team members come from different backgrounds. Some of us are educators, others are photographers and even art historians/ activitsts.
Thanks to our experience working with kids and teenagers in the past, we believe that the best education involves “learn by doing”.
That’s the reason why our Madrid graffiti tour includes the development of a stencil graffiti. Students will not only have the opportunity to listen and observe, but they’ll also get hands to work!
Our guests love using the spray cans! It’s the first time that some of them have used it in their lifes.
Street art walls created by emergent local artists
It’s our goal to support the local talent. The information offered during the Madrid graffiti tour has been provided by the artists themselves.
They are either our personal friends, or we have contacted them through Instagram. Have you ever heard about any of the following artists based in Madrid?
- Mr. Piro
- Gvill3
- DonIwana
Where does the Madrid graffiti tour start and end up?
If school groups are larger than 30 people, we will meet you by the entrance of Reina Sofia Museum (Calle Santa Isabel, 52)
The meeting point for less than 30 participants is located by Teatro Valle Inclan (Calle de Valencia, 1). Nearest metro station is Lavapies.
For your information, Cooltourspain works with a 1:13 or 1:15 ratio. We believe that a quality service is the one where every child in the group may hear the guide’s voice perfectly. Thus we limit the amount of guests per professional.
Analyzing the street art movement and its challenges
It would be interesting for our guests to understand that our Madrid graffiti tour may find some haters on the way. Why do we say so?
Some people believe that we (travellers/tourists) are taking their space, but we’d like invite those who say that to participate in our services in order to know what our job is like.
Rather than contributing to gentrification, we offer trusted information about what’s currently happening in our society.
Our opinion about the Madrid graffiti tour
Cooltourspain offers daily services. We love our job and all our team members are passionate about the street art & graffiti movements.
We would like to contribute with our effort to the development of a stronger community, supporting local artists and even offering them the opportunity to work with us if they speak English or French.
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