Madrid Street Art Old And New

by Sean McLachlan on


Madrid is filled with art. From world-famous museums to cutting-edge indie galleries, this city has it all.

You don’t have to go to a museum or gallery to see art, though. The streets are filled with it. This photo shows a mural at the intersection of Calle de San Andrés and Calle de Espiritu Santo, just south of the popular Plaza Dos de Mayo. The mural stretches across an entire building and is slowly being defaced by taggers. That charming sentiment about the police wasn’t part of the original design.

There seems to be a war going on between the muralists and the taggers. This mural replaced an earlier one that graced the building for several years until some idiot spray-painted a blue line across its entire length. The muralists haven’t given up, though, and their work can be found on buildings and the shutters of shops. They’re often paid by shop owners to put something on the shutters to attract attention to their business even when it’s closed.

Madrid has a long tradition of decorated shops. Some of the older businesses in town have painted tiles, either in abstract designs inspired by Arab art or showing pictures related to the business. These, too, are being defaced by taggers. Unlike the murals, the older decorations are generally not being replaced.

Not all Spanish taggers deface other people’s art. Some respect an existing work and find another place to put their tags. Not surprisingly, their tags tend to be more artistic and show creativity and thought.

Check out the gallery for some Madrid street art spanning from a century ago and last month. For more images, check out the excellent blog Madrid Street Art.

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Kelburn Castle To Lose Psychedelic Art, Going Old School

by Sean McLachlan on


Kelburn Castle isn’t your typical 13th century Scottish castle and aristocratic estate. It’s an example of some of the best street art in the world.

As you can see, it’s pretty trippy, the product of a group of Brazilian street artists in 2007. It was allowed by the local council on the understanding that it would be up for no more than three years. Generally, there are strict rules in the UK about changing the appearance of historic buildings.

Despite this, the castle’s owner, the Earl of Glasgow, has been fighting to keep it. Now it looks like the mural will have to go. It turns out the layer of cement that the mural is painted on is damaging the original medieval walls.

Being a modern sort of aristocrat, the Earl of Glasgow has launched a Facebook page to save the mural. So far it’s attracted more than 4,000 likes.

[Photo courtesy Iain and Sarah]

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Photo Of The Day: Street Art In Rome

by Melanie Renzulli on




Reserve your negative opinions about street art for a moment and consider this image of “Madonna and Child” spray-painted on the side of a who-knows-how-old building in Rome, Italy. Captured in the residential neighborhood of Trastevere by Flickr user AlexSven, the photo summarizes, at least for me, the living organism that is the Eternal City. The ancient and modern, the irreverent and the religious all co-exist in this magical city.

What’s more, the word “graffiti” is an Italian word meaning “illicit scribblings or drawings on the surface of a public place” and is a type of art and protest that has been in practice since the days of the Roman Empire. So this street artist (or vandal, depending on which side of the debate you are on) is continuing a tradition that has lasted thousands of years.

Share your best travel images with us by adding them to the Gadling Flickr photo pool for a future Photo of the Day.

Street Art Brings Color To Ecuador (GALLERY)

by Libby Zay on

New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Melbourne are just a few of the cities known for street art. But that doesn’t mean the streets aren’t being spray painted, wheat pasted and stenciled in other cities – and more importantly, it doesn’t lessen the messages these artists are trying to get across. One such place is Ecuador, where graffiti tells the stories of the state of life and what it’s like to live in the country. Locals in the country’s capital city have a saying that there are “no blank walls in Quito,” and for the most part that’s true. Even in those instances where there is a blank wall, it probably won’t be long before it turns into a canvas. Click through the image gallery below to see a collection of street art images from across Ecuador (including some from Baños de Agua Santa, where Jessica Festa recently documented graffiti). Whether you consider street art a nice artistic touch or an act of vandalism, these images show a unique perspective.

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Photo Of The Day: Concrete Jungle

by Jessica Marati on

When you’re traveling, art can pop up to surprise you in the most random of places. This elaborate piece of rooftop graffiti was captured by Flickr user Aviv from the heights of Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain. Judging by the comments on Flickr, this street artist might just give Gaudi a run for his money.

Does your image of surprising street art belong here? Upload your favorite shots to the Gadling Group Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.