Attention to all visitors who are searching on the net for Madrid tours!
You will find a lot of information on the internet about experiences and guided visits to join in town.
The majority of them focus their work on Madrid history tours, but how many of them are focused on alternative travellers interested in discovering the real daily life of Spaniards?
If you are an explorer looking to dig deeper into the Spanish culture, check the following activities:
- Lavapiés graffiti – walking tour Madrid
- Malasaña’s urban experience
- Street art Madrid bike tour
- Feminist Madrid tours
- Madrid private tours focused on architecture
Which are the 5 off-the-beaten districts covered in these Madrid tours?
Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol are undoubtedly the most famous historical locations in town, but how many of you go beyond what Madrid tourist guides tell you?
“Get lost!” Wander around the streets to discover unexpected sculptures, bars, markets or vintage shops.
Javier, Cooltourspain’s guide
Check the following must-visit districts around the city center with our Madrid tours.
1-. Lavapiés, multiculturalism in every corner
Madrid’s most multicultural neighborhood is home for our best-seller service.
A street art tour to discover:
- Local community spots
- The most beautiful urban garden in Madrid
- Talented local & emergent street art/ graffiti
- Modern art galleries
Lavapies is the place where every visitor thinks that they are not surrounded by tourists, discovering the real lifestyle of local people.
Whether you prefer to join any of our daily guided visits, or explore it on your own, we would recommend you to not only wander because of its art, but to eat at any of its restaurants.
Moroccan, Senegalese and Indian restaurants are present in almost every street.
There is also a local food market which still preserves the old-school stalls, combined with chic & modern sloppy food restaurants.
2-. Malasaña, hipster & trendy neighborhood.
No visitors should leave Madrid without visiting this authentic area in town!
Malasaña is well known for its vintage clothing stores, barber shops and trendy bars.
Young Spaniards usually visit the district, specially during the evenings & weekends. It’s during those times when the Malasaña receive the majority of its visitors.
It’s in our urban art tour when we visit the following locations:
- Solar Antonio Grilo
- Plaza del Dos de mayo
- Urvanity art festival
3-. San Bernardo & Noviciado by bike.
Cycling around San Bernardo area not only means to discover the best street art by bike, but also to explore Madrid’s history.
You will hear stories about Spanish:
- Aristocracy
- Religion
Ever heard about ‘La Movida Madrileña’ counter cultural movement?
It was in Noviciado area (among other parts in the city center) where young people changed the way the Spanish society acted.
From a dictatorship executed by Franco, towards post-franquism & freedom’s beginning.
4-. Embajadores and the women’s story
Patricia is a local activist who runs feminist tours in Madrid.
Her speech focuses on the following topics:
- Introducing the history of the Ladies’ Residence,
- Equity protests on 8th March,
- Late francoist violence in Madrid,
- LGTBQ struggles.
Join now her project to pursue social and cultural equity.
5-. Emilio’s architours around Gran Via street
A local architect will guide you through Madrid’s most relevant industrial buildings.
Discover the history behind the design of important roof-tops around the city center, and explore Spain’s capital through the eyes of a builder.
Emilio quit his job in 2018 at a local architect studio to promote his own Madrid tours.
Hands up for active entrepreneurs like him!
Artworks observed in the alternative Madrid tours
Our Madrid tours mostly focus in art, whether its from local emergent artists, from internationally known graffiti writers or national fellows.
We are proud to support the artistic scene in Spain!
Local emergent artists
Yipi Yipi Yeah is duo from Madrid who focus mostly on traffic signals.
Is this legal or illegal art?
According to Madrid’s city council it is not, but they believe that it has a ‘inclusive artistic‘ approach.
Their idea is to bring modern & urban art to the streets, so that it’s accessible by any single person. No matters your economic condition.
You can check their artworks around any of the following districts:
- Chueca
- Lavapiés
- Malasaña
Spanish street art artists
Isaac Cordal is a Galician urban artist with a focus on small sculptures and urban photography.
‘Cement eclipses’ is the name that receive this little concrete creatures.
Mr. Cordal encourages pedestrians to interpret his figures with a critical thinking attitude & social constructivism.
His artworks have been present in the following cities, although some others have been stolen:
- Berlin
- London
- Brussels
- New York
It should be mentioned that he was one of 2019’s CALLE Lavapiés guest artists.
International street artists names in the Madrid tours
Ever heard of Bansky?
According to famous Sothebys auction, this artwork is worth £13,750.
Cooltourspain celebrated a special ‘Banksy edition’ street art tour last December 2018, where our team members focused on artists working with stencils.
His unauthorized exhibition took place in Madrid until last May 2019, with more than 100,000 visitors.
Our opinion about the Madrid tours
It was in 2016 when Cooltourspain was launched. Since then, more than 3,000 travellers have participated in any of our street art tours or graffiti workshops.
Javier Garcia solved a problem that existed in Spain’s capital city. The overcrowd of FREE touristic circuits around the city center.
We believe that this industry is affecting all of us, but we also think that a free tour is possible.
A service where the less benefited Spanish social groups participate in a completely voluntary experience, which differ from that idea brought by Madrid tours companies.
If you belong to any NGO, cultural association working with less favored groups please get in touch with us!
Leave a Reply