street art barcelona map

 Steet Art Map Barcelona

🗺️ Street Art Travel Maps: Discover Europe’s Hidden Urban Art Gems

If you're passionate about street art, graffiti, and off-the-beaten-path travel, you're in the right place. I’ve created custom Google Maps filled with Europe’s best street art cities, and now you can access them for free! These aren’t random pins — they’re personally curated, tested on foot, and updated regularly with the coolest spots in town.

🎯 What Are These Street Art Travel Maps?

Street Art Barcelona Map

They’re interactive Google Maps made for street art lovers, urban explorers, and alternative travelers. I’ve saved all my discoveries — from huge murals to hidden graffiti corners — along with my favorite cafés, galleries, and quirky finds. Just subscribe to my monthly newsletter, and you’ll instantly get access to private Google Maps links that you can use during your travels.

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📍 How Do These Maps Work?

No downloads. No extra apps. Just good old Google Maps.
These are the same maps I personally use on the road — filled with:

• ✅ Self-guided street art walking tours

• 🎨 The most iconic murals in each city

• 🧱 Secret graffiti walls and Hall of Fame locations

• 🏢 Urban art galleries & open-air museums

• 🥗 Local food stops with a focus on vegetarian restaurants

• 🕵️ Abandoned places for urbex lovers

• 📚 Independent bookshops & local artisan stores

• 🎭 Hidden gems in the underground cultural scene

• 🚪 And tons of unexpected discoveries I’ve fallen in love with

Each pin is linked to articles from my blog — so you can dive deeper into each place, read about the artist behind the mural, or get my review of that hidden café.

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💌 How to Get the Maps?

Just subscribe to my monthly newsletter using the form above. You’ll receive an automatic email (check your spam folder just in case!) with direct access to all of my Street Art Travel Maps across Europe. It’s that easy.

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🌍 Where Can You Explore?

These street art maps currently cover the best urban art cities in:

• Belgium

• Bulgaria (Sofia)

• Czech Republic (Prague)

• France (Paris)

• Germany

• Greece

• Israel (Tel Aviv)

• Italy

• Norway (Stavanger)

• Portugal (Lisbon, Porto)

• Serbia (Belgrade)

• Slovenia (Ljubljana)

• Spain (Barcelona)

• United Kingdom

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🎁 Want Something More Custom?

Looking for a personalized itinerary based on your style, passions, and timing? Check out my concierge travel service for tailor-made urban adventures.

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💬 Final Tip

If you're heading to cities like Barcelona, Lisbon, or Berlin, don’t miss your chance to explore beyond the usual tourist spots. With these street art maps of Europe, you’ll see the city through the eyes of a local and a street art lover.

Subscribe now and start your journey through Europe’s most colorful corners.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von ART IS TRASH / Francisco de Pajaro (@artistrash)

Who is who in Street Art

 Art Is Trash vs El Pez vs Banksy: A Comparative Dive into the Worlds of Street Art Legends

Street art, once considered vandalism, is now celebrated as a powerful form of public expression. Among its most influential figures are Francisco de Pájaro aka Art Is Trash, the joyful Barcelona artist El Pez, and the globally renowned and mysterious Banksy. While all three artists operate within the street art genre, their styles, messages, techniques, and philosophies differ dramatically — reflecting the diversity and richness of urban creativity.

🎨 Art Is Trash: The Poet of Chaos and Garbage

Francisco de Pájaro, under the name Art is Trash (El Arte es Basura), transforms literal trash into powerful art. His works are raw, satirical, often grotesque, and deeply emotional. Instead of painting on clean walls, de Pájaro frequently uses discarded furniture, mattresses, cardboard, and everyday street debris to create his ephemeral installations. These artworks are usually created at night, without permission, and are gone by morning — either destroyed or swept away.

Key characteristics:

• Medium: Trash, cardboard, found materials + acrylic paint

• Style: Tragicomic, expressionistic, anarchic

• Themes: Social critique, absurdity, poverty, political satire

• Location focus: Barcelona streets, London, New York

• Notable trait: His characters are expressive, often human-like monsters or crying figures, accompanied by provocative texts like “Art is Trash”

Art is Trash challenges the commodification of art. His installations are meant to decay, questioning permanence and the art market. He's the embodiment of anti-glamour urban art.

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😄 El Pez: The Smiling Ambassador of Happiness

Barcelona Urban Artist

Born in Barcelona, El Pez (which means "The Fish") brings a completely different energy to the streets. His work is joyful, colorful, and full of life. Known for his iconic smiling fish characters, El Pez uses his art to spread happiness and good vibes, coining his style as "Happy Style."

Key characteristics:

• Medium: Spray paint, murals, legal walls, galleries

• Style: Cartoonish, colorful, vibrant, graffiti-based

• Themes: Positivity, joy, fantasy, peace

• Location focus: Barcelona, Bogotá, Miami, Amsterdam

• Notable trait: Always smiling characters, often fish-like or other surreal animals, surrounded by stars, bubbles, and messages of love

El Pez represents the more decorative and optimistic side of street art. His murals brighten up cities, and while his work is less politically aggressive, it has become iconic in the street art world for its recognizability and joyful aesthetic.

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🕵️ Banksy: The Master of Political Street Satire

Banksy, possibly the most famous street artist globally, is known for his stenciled works that appear overnight in cities around the world. His anonymity and razor-sharp political commentary have turned him into a pop culture figure — as well as a symbol of resistance.

Key characteristics:

• Medium: Spray paint + stencil, occasional installations (like Dismaland or shredded paintings)

• Style: Monochrome stencils, minimalist and instantly recognizable

• Themes: War, capitalism, surveillance, poverty, refugees, police brutality

• Location focus: London, Bristol, Bethlehem, New York, Paris

• Notable trait: Powerful, instantly viral images like the girl with the balloon, riot police with smiley faces, or rats with protest signs

Banksy’s work is clean and strategic, designed for impact. Unlike Art Is Trash’s chaotic installations or El Pez’s joyful murals, Banksy uses simplicity to deliver shocking or ironic messages.

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🔍 Comparative Overview

Feature	Art Is Trash	El Pez	Banksy
Visual Style	Rough, expressive, grotesque	Colorful, cartoon-like, joyful	Clean stencils, minimalistic
Materials	Trash, cardboard, urban debris	Spray paint on walls or canvas	Spray paint with stencils
Message Focus	Anti-establishment, absurdism	Happiness, fantasy, peace	Political satire, social injustice
Famous Works	Trash figures in Barcelona	Smiling fish in El Raval	Girl with Balloon, Dismaland
Art Life	Ephemeral and spontaneous	Decorative and commercial-friendly	Often viral, commercially subversive

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🌍 Street Art from Three Angles: Trash, Joy, and Protest

Together, these three artists form a powerful triangle in contemporary street art:

• Art Is Trash brings ephemeral rebellion, turning garbage into raw, temporary art that critiques consumerism and society.

• El Pez delivers joyful consistency, offering viewers a bright break from urban grayness through fantasy and color.

• Banksy provides global shockwaves, using visual minimalism and viral impact to criticize political systems and inequality.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von ART IS TRASH / Francisco de Pajaro (@artistrash)

20 Artists You Should Know

 

🎨 Street Art in Barcelona

Barcelona is undeniably one of Spain’s top cities to explore street art. Beyond the iconic architecture of Gaudí or the classic brushstrokes of Miró, the city pulses with contemporary creativity—especially when it comes to its vibrant urban art scene. Walk down almost any alley, and you'll be greeted with a burst of color, personality, and raw talent.

art is trash street art barcelona

As part of the My Barcelona series with travel platform Ebookers, we’ve taken a deep dive into this ever-changing outdoor gallery. Every visit to Barcelona reveals something new, as its streets become canvases for both local legends and international visitors.

Street art in Barcelona isn’t just paint on walls—it’s a culture, a legacy, a statement. With its unique mix of sanctioned murals and guerrilla graffiti, the city celebrates both its artistic roots and its edgier subcultures. Below is our curated list of 20 standout artists—each contributing their own unique brushstroke to Barcelona’s visual identity.

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🎏 1. Pez Instagram

Famous for his cheerful fish characters, Pez is a global ambassador of good vibes. Though he splits his time between Barcelona and Colombia, his work is synonymous with Barcelona’s street scene. His signature smiley fish appear not just in Spain but in cities worldwide.

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🎨 2. Aryz

A muralist of monumental scale, Aryz paints towering characters with a dreamlike aesthetic. Born in Barcelona and known worldwide, he’s created iconic works from Bristol to Brooklyn—purely for the joy of painting.

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🔺 3. Kenor

Beginning in the 1980s painting trains, Kenor’s style has evolved into bold, geometric compositions. Influenced by electronic music (notably Autechre), his vibrant murals feel like visual soundtracks.

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🌀 4. Sixe Parades (aka Sixeart)

With roots in 90s graffiti, Sixe blends Catalan and Peruvian influences into abstract, colorful murals. In 2008, he earned international acclaim by painting the façade of London’s Tate Modern.

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🍭 5. Konair

Known for his popsicle-tag character, Konair’s playful street art pops up everywhere, especially in the Gothic Quarter. His iconic frozen treats are a sweet surprise across Barcelona's urban sprawl.

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🍼 6. El Xupet Negre

Active since 1989, El Xupet Negre is instantly recognizable thanks to his black pacifier symbol and his core message: peace, love, and freedom. His tags appear across the city, echoing street art’s original rebel spirit.

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🖌️ 7. Manu Twice

Manu Twice’s work blends fine art aesthetics with street scale. Painting since the 1990s, his murals—often centered around human figures—stand out for their elegance and emotion.

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🗑️ 8. Francisco de Pájaro (Art Is Trash) Instagram

Turning garbage into gold, Francisco de Pájaro, aka Art is Trash, transforms discarded objects into ephemeral artworks. His impromptu installations critique society with a dose of humor and urgency.

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✂️ 9. Btoy

Stencil artist Andrea Michaelsson, known as Btoy, creates richly detailed portraits using layered techniques. Influenced by figures like Malcolm X, her works often appear in the Gothic Quarter.

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🖍️ 10. Zosen & Mina Hamada

This Argentinian-Japanese duo merges bright colors and abstract shapes into joyful, collective pieces. Based in Barcelona, their murals embody harmony and spontaneity.

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📚 11. Aleix Gordo

Originally interested in comics, Gordo entered the street art scene after reaching out to graffiti artists. Now his work spans continents, but his creative heart still beats for Barcelona.

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🧿 12. H101 (Hachecientouno)

Originally from Madrid, H101 channels mysticism and ancient culture into swirling, colorful forms. His work emits energy, drawing passersby into a spiritual visual experience.

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🌀 13. Rombillos

Rombillos’s character El Rombo appears across Barcelona—via stickers, murals, and small interventions. A nod to playful street culture, his work encourages the viewer to pause and smile.

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👧 14. Seclestyle

This self-taught Italian artist spreads positivity through delicate paste-ups featuring childlike characters. Her works are subtle and uplifting, often hidden in doorways or alleys around Gràcia.

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🖋️ 15. Zems Oner

Tattoo artist and street muralist Ivan de Castres (aka Zems) fills Poblenou’s legal walls with fluid, interwoven graffiti compositions. His figures are dynamic, bold, and unmistakably his.

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🖍️ 16. Mali Mowcka

Argentinian-born Mali creates expressive, feminine paste-ups in dreamlike abstract forms. Her work now adorns cities around the globe, but her home base is Barcelona.

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🔲 17. SM172

A stencil artist with graffiti roots, SM172 draws inspiration from friends and personal connections. His works, often found in collaboration with others, are poetic and grounded in realism.

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🧩 18. Bl2A

Specializing in found tiles and multi-layer stencils, Bl2A hides his miniature art around the city—inviting chance encounters and unexpected delight for observant pedestrians.

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💚 19. Bronik

Influenced by Peruvian folklore, Bronik paints mystical women in rich, green hues. Her art—ranging from doorways to murals—feels both ancient and contemporary.

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🧿 20. Sebastien Waknine

Waknine blends ancient motifs with modern realism. To him, ancient cultures were the original street artists, and his work pays tribute both on the gallery wall and the street.

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✨ Discovering Barcelona’s Urban Soul

Barcelona’s street art is more than decoration—it's expression, rebellion, joy, and identity. Each of these 20 artists adds a unique voice to the city’s evolving dialogue. Whether you're wandering through Poblenou or getting lost in the Gothic Quarter, keep your eyes open. You never know which mural or character might be waiting around the next corner.

🖼️ And remember: the beauty of street art is that it’s always changing. What you see today might be gone tomorrow. That’s the magic of My Barcelona.

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Ein Beitrag geteilt von ART IS TRASH / Francisco de Pajaro (@artistrash)

Stencil Art Graffiti Urban Art

 

🎨 Stencil Art vs. Graffiti: Understanding the Key Differences in Urban Expression

Urban art has evolved into one of the most powerful forms of contemporary cultural expression. Two major branches of this genre—stencil art and graffiti—often appear side by side on city walls, yet they stem from different traditions, techniques, and artistic intentions. Although they share public space and often intersect in visual language, their approaches, messages, and legacies are distinct. This article explores the key differences between stencil art and graffiti, shedding light on their origins, methods, and impact in the art world.

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✂️ What Is Stencil Art?

Stencil art is a form of street art that involves creating images or text using a cut-out template (a stencil) to apply paint, typically spray paint, onto a surface. This method allows artists to reproduce the same image multiple times with precision and efficiency. The technique dates back centuries and has been used historically in political propaganda, industrial labeling, and military applications—but it found new life in the 20th century as a rebellious and accessible art form.

Key Features of Stencil Art:

• Technique: Involves designing, cutting, and spraying through a pre-made stencil.

• Precision: Offers clean, sharp lines and detailed imagery.

• Repetition: The same image can be applied in multiple locations, creating visual consistency.

• Time-efficient: Especially useful in environments where speed is essential due to legal risks.

One of the most famous stencil artists in the world is Banksy, who popularized the method through powerful social and political messages rendered in black and white with sharp outlines and satirical humor.

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🖌️ What Is Graffiti?

Graffiti is a broader and more spontaneous form of street art that includes everything from stylized lettering to large-scale murals. The term originally referred to markings scratched or painted on walls and surfaces in public spaces. Modern graffiti culture exploded in New York City during the late 1960s and 1970s, rooted in hip-hop culture, rebellion, and the desire for visibility.

Key Features of Graffiti:

• Technique: Often created freehand using spray paint or markers.

• Lettering: Includes tags (signatures), throw-ups (bubble letters), and complex wildstyle.

• Personal expression: Deeply tied to identity, territory, and style evolution.

• Illegality: Often seen as vandalism, which adds to its raw and rebellious nature.

Graffiti is highly individualistic. Artists develop unique “handstyles” and often belong to crews. Their names or aliases become their brands—symbols of their presence in the cityscape.

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🧠 Conceptual Differences: Message vs. Signature

While both stencil art and graffiti are forms of visual communication in urban settings, their messages differ.

• Stencil art is often used to communicate ideas, narratives, or satire. It is message-driven and tends to focus on social commentary, humor, or irony.

• Graffiti, on the other hand, is often more about identity. A graffiti tag or mural is less about the content of the message and more about the presence of the artist in a public space—“I exist, and I was here.”

This difference has a profound effect on how the two are perceived. Stencil art often receives more mainstream acceptance and can even be found in galleries and museums. Graffiti, especially tagging, is still widely considered illegal and unsanctioned.

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🏙️ Urban Landscape: Placement and Impact

Stencil artists often seek strategic locations that will maximize visibility while minimizing the time needed to execute the work. Walls near political buildings, cultural landmarks, or high-foot-traffic zones are common targets.

Graffiti artists, however, thrive on scale and audacity. High rooftops, subways, train cars, or hard-to-reach places become stages for their work. The more difficult the location, the more respect it earns within graffiti communities.

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💡 Artistic Identity and Legal Status

The legal status of both practices varies from place to place, but in general:

• Stencil art may fall into a gray area, especially if it carries a cultural or political message. Some cities turn a blind eye; others embrace it as part of the city’s character.

• Graffiti is more likely to be prosecuted, especially tags and unauthorized murals. However, legal walls and graffiti festivals have made it easier for artists to gain recognition without risking arrest.

Artists like Shepard Fairey and Blek le Rat have helped bridge the gap between the streets and galleries, pushing stencil art into the realm of fine art. In contrast, graffiti legends like Seen, Cope2, and Lady Pink have earned respect from underground crews and collectors alike.

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🖼️ Street vs. Gallery: Changing Perceptions

In recent years, the line between street and gallery has blurred. Many stencil artists now sell prints and originals, and even graffiti writers have moved into canvas work. The mainstream art world increasingly recognizes the cultural value of both forms.

Still, purists argue that taking graffiti off the street strips it of its rebellious core, while others believe it offers artists a sustainable way to continue their practice.

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🔍 Final Thoughts: Two Languages, One City Wall

Stencil art and graffiti are two visual languages coexisting on the walls of our cities. While they differ in method, message, and cultural roots, both challenge the norms of public space, inspire dialogue, and provoke emotion.

Whether you’re moved by a stenciled anti-war message or mesmerized by the flowing curves of a wildstyle piece, both forms remind us that art does not need permission to exist. It just needs a wall—and an artist bold enough to paint it.

Akore Barcelona

 

🎨 Akore – Afrocolor Visionary of Barcelona's Urban Art Scene

Akore is a self-taught graffiti and street artist who has become one of the most recognised voices in contemporary urban art in Barcelona. His creative roots stretch back to the late 1980s, when he began painting in the city’s outskirts, deeply influenced by the rise of hip-hop culture and its expressive, boundary-pushing energy.

What distinguishes Akore is his powerful blend of post-graffiti aesthetics and African visual heritage, a fusion he defines through his unique style known as Afrocolor. Through bold colours and rhythmic compositions, Akore brings ancestral stories and spiritual reflections to life on both street walls and canvas.

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🌍 A Deep Cultural Connection to Africa

Although born in Murcia, a region in southeastern Spain with deep geographical and historical ties to the African continent, Akore draws heavily from African spirituality, identity, and historical memory. His artworks often feature commanding portraits of African women, evoking resilience, dignity, and cultural continuity. These figures serve as symbols of collective memory, bridging generations and geographies.

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🖌️ Style, Resistance, and the Urban Landscape

Akore’s visual language is rooted in movement. With vivid colour palettes, dynamic brushwork, and a balance of tribal, abstract, and urban motifs, his style pulses with energy. Much of his work appears in unauthorised public spaces, a deliberate choice that transforms the streets into platforms of creative resistance and community dialogue. His art addresses themes of migration, rupture, identity, and spirituality — always with a sense of urgency and reflection.

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♻️ Art with Purpose: Ecology and Reuse

A committed advocate for the environment, Akore often works with found and recycled materials — doors, traffic signs, fabrics, scrap metal — infusing his pieces with both texture and message. This sustainable practice highlights not only the ecological footprint of creation but also the transformative power of art to give new life to discarded matter.

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🧠 Beyond the Wall: Lectures, Academia & Media

Akore's influence extends far beyond the streets. He has contributed to cultural and academic institutions such as the University of Barcelona and the Palau de la Música Catalana, sharing his insight into urban art, identity, and resistance. His work is currently being analysed by the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, underlining its cultural and historical value.

His art and activism have been featured in major global media, including National Geographic, El País, La Vanguardia, MTV, and Greenpeace. He also appeared in the international documentary series This is Art (Brutal Media / BBC Studios / TV3 / Movistar+), broadcast in over 80 countries.

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🌍 International Reach, Local Soul

Akore’s art has travelled across continents, with exhibitions in Spain, France, Germany, and Singapore, and murals in cities around the world. Still, his artistic heart remains rooted in Barcelona — where he is a permanent artist at the Artevistas Gallery, a space known for showcasing the soul of the city’s street and contemporary art movement.

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🔗 Discover Akore at Artevistas Gallery

📍 Passatge del Crèdit 4, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona
🌐 www.artevistas.eu

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