Barcelona is world famous for its jewels of Modernist architecture and of course Gaudí. But did you know that the Ciutat Comtal also plays host to a vibrant urban art scene? If you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten track, a street art safari may be for you.

If you have some good walking shoes, plenty of time to spare, and don’t mind going in a few circles, the narrow, labyrinthine streets of the Raval and el Born are perfect places to go street art hunting. While there are no specific “hot spots” you can find lots of hidden gems on places like doorways and side street walls.

Because the canvas is the street, works are constantly coming and going, and if you’re lucky you may stumble upon work by some well-known names in the urban art scene such as French stencil artist C215 or Italian artist Alice Pasquini, both of whom have decorated walls in cities all over the world.

If time is limited, your best bet to get a good taste of the Barna street art scene is to visit some of the Murs Lliures(in Catalan “free walls”), an initiative by the city council which sets aside areas where artists can reserve time to paint freely and legally.

There are a few of these sites scattered around the city, but the two that are most active are Tres Xemeneies (“three chimneys”), which occupies a plaza next to an old factory just a few minutes’ walk from the Rambla, and Agricultura, which is a little further out, near the Diagonal Mar Shopping Centre.

Author:
Brian Reedy is originally from the East Coast of the United States, but has been living in Barcelona since 2005. His interest in street art began in 2012, when he decided to start a photo blog to archive the images he captured on the city streets.

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Cover photo: txmx 2 | Photos: Murs Lliures