Today’s educational community relies on collaborative learning (project-based) to achieve success. In this sense, a high percentage of teachers use alternative teaching methodologies to introduce students to the art world. That’s why we created a series of student trips to Spain in 2016 with the aim of reinforcing 21st-century concepts and values.
Did you know graffiti and urban art can be used within the school environment to foster a sense of group belonging? When was the last guided visit you took your students on? How does an end of the year trip to Madrid sounds ? At Cooltourspain, our student trips to Spain prioritize safety while delivering authentic cultural experiences.
In today’s article, we’ll discuss the most important aspects of our routes through the city center, as well as the most outstanding street art:
- Urban art tour through Lavapiés
- Route through Malasaña’s graffiti
- Guided visit to Madrid’s contemporary art galleries
What are the most impactful murals we see on the student trips in Madrid, Spain?
First, you should know these student trips to Spain are suitable for all age groups. From children aged 8-10 to teenagers on educational trips up to those pursuing university studies. What grade level do you teach or coordinate?
Our route adapts to the school curriculum of each educational stage, integrating various subjects and classroom objectives. It’s a guided visit where participants will critically analyze the message of diverse contemporary artworks.
While it’s true that Spain’s capital has numerous hall of fame walls distributed throughout the periphery, our guides will focus their talk on the Embajadores, Centro and Universidad districts.
CALLE Lavapiés urban art festival
Within student trips to Spain, the CALLE Lavapiés festival deserves special mention as one of Madrid’s most important urban art events. This annual festival brings together local and international artists who transform the neighborhood’s walls into open-air galleries.
The participating artists create large-scale murals that address contemporary social issues, from inequality to environmental concerns. Throughout the year, you’ll find these impressive artworks along streets like Argumosa, Doctor Fourquet and Calle Embajadores amongst many others. Building facades serve as canvases for both established and emerging artists thanks to this stree art event.
These pieces change periodically as yearly editions of the festival introduce fresh perspectives and artistic voices to the neighborhood, making each visit unique.
The Noviciado route on student trips to Spain
Second, the most popular area within student trips to Spain is located along the edges of Gran Vía. Here, the most artistically valued locations are a municipal market and a community urban garden.
Both spaces hold special symbolism for Madrid residents because they maintain a unique neighborhood philosophy. Despite the gentrification affecting various central areas, these have managed to resist purely mercantile and commercial pressures.
The murals from the Pinta Malasaña festival and Solar Antonio Grilo are the best modern pictorial attractions in the district popularly known as Malasaña. Do you know any of the artists who have intervened here with spray cans and/or paintbrushes?
Murals from the Urvanity Art contemporary art fair
Finally, our student trips to Spain also explore some of the decorations created for the Urvanity Art contemporary art fair. Without a doubt, among the most photographed by specialist audiences.
Among other internationally recognized artists, Okuda, Bordalo II, D*Face, and Ben Eine have exhibited their studio work on huge painted walls. Isn’t this one of the best ways to beautify the urban landscape?
Who are the local artists that students love most on these trips?
Moreover, we recognize the work of creators belonging to Madrid’s artistic community. Besides discussing the most famous, our student trips to Spain praise the work of lesser-known artists. We want to support the local movement through these alternative guided visits!
The established objective for participants is to discover the city center in a differentiating way. At the same time, the Cooltourspain team will inform them about the curiosities that characterize classic graffiti, and we’ll have time for questions.
- Is there a closed code within the graffiti scene?
- How and when do they paint on the street? Do they work alone or with others?
- How much does professional graffiti cost on a metal shutter?
Ze Carrión, modern art with controversy
One of the most system-critical artists teaches art at a high school in the Community of Madrid. Ze Carrión uses a mixed technique for his illustrations, and student trips to Spain stop in front of his works to analyze their message.
He considers himself an open person and affirms that his works don’t leave anyone indifferent. “You might like them or not,” he adds, “but that’s the beauty of art. Everyone has their own tastes.” Among his works, we can reference themes of Francoism, religion, and Catalan independence.
Above all, urban art should be used as a tool that serves to create a more equal world and develop social justice, and Ze Carrión knows how to express that idea with mastery and technical skill.
Whose mosaics do we see on student trips to Spain?
Continuing the route of any student trips to Spain, we’ll find artworks created on mosaics in the main corners and avenues of the center. What would you say, legal or illegal?
Beyond that, when do you think the artist Basket of Nean created them? Did he climb a ladder in broad daylight (as if fixing telephone/internet cabling) or did he do it at night with less traffic? You should know that in doing this, they’re not just risking their time, but also their money.
Currently, fines for these minor offenses can range from €600 to €3,000 depending on the region. Even with repeated offenses, there can be prison sentences for graffiti artists. Did you see on TV the recent arrest of some of them in Madrid after Storm Filomena?
Yipi Yipi Yeah, creators of the unfinished urban art museum
And finally, though no less important, we’ll encounter the duo called Yipi Yipi Yeah. Their objective, like that of student trips to Spain, is to create and talk about an unfinished urban art museum on the street.
To develop it, they mainly use their graphic design knowledge on plastic vinyls. This technique, similar to that of Frenchman Clet Abraham, extends across a large number of traffic signs. Have you seen them while walking or driving?
Their way of understanding art is closely linked to the concept of equality. That’s why we love it! What would happen if you had enough money to visit the Prado Museum and I didn’t? Who would have greater cultural opportunities?
What neighborhoods do student trips to Spain explore?
As you’ve probably realized, our student trips to Spain cover two quite extensive areas. And although we walk through 6 or 7 specific streets on each tour, we invite you to wander freely.
You’ll discover firsthand the most alternative spaces of a social character and will be able to rediscover Spain’s capital in a totally unique and original way. Have you stopped to think about the themes of the works created street-side?
Our tour groups for young adults lead by professional guides will take you through streets like Argumosa, Corredera Alta de San Pablo, Doctor Fourquet, and La Palma.
Lavapiés, multiculturalism everywhere
Cooltourspain started a decade ago as a social, cultural, and educational project focused on the street art industries (street art + graffiti). Since then, the most popular student trips to Spain have been those developed in the center’s most multicultural neighborhood.
Lavapiés is an open, working-class neighborhood with a high rate of ethnic plurality. However, it also presents a medium-low socio-cultural level. It has gone from being a degraded area to one of the most coveted. Do you know the Anglo-Saxon term ‘gentrification’?
This area has several points of interest, always speaking from an artistic perspective. Among others, these stand out:
- La Tabacalera, currently under renovation, reopening 2026
- Esta es una Plaza, community urban garden
- CALLE Lavapiés urban art festival
Student trips to Spain through the Malasaña neighborhood, Madrid
Another neighborhood we walk through on student trips to Spain is popularly known as Malasaña. Here, its streets full of history intermingle with hundreds of graffiti pieces painted on business shutters. Some have been there since the early 2000s!
Throughout the tour, we’ll observe pieces and throw-ups of different sizes. Some created legally and others made without owner permission. Did you know there’s a controversy between graffiti artists and urban artists due to the PINTA Malasaña festival? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The places with greatest artistic and cultural interest among our guests are:
- Solar Antonio Grilo, community urban garden
- Galería de Robles, bollards painted and decorated along the entire sidewalk
- Arte al Cubo festival, post-graffiti event near Plaza de España
Cooltourspain’s opinion about student trips to Spain
Every time we lead student trips to Spain, we’re reminded why we love what we do. Every day we have new adventures and meet people with our same interests.
Additionally, Cooltourspain members’ experience as educators and workshop facilitators makes the guided visits both entertaining and educational. We hope to see you soon on one of the graffiti and urban art tours!
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