Impromptu colab – mural by CobreArt (@cobreart) gets tattooed with throw-ups

Is Barcelona famous for Graffiti

Is Barcelona famous for graffiti? If you have ever been to Barcelona you will undoubtedly have noticed all the doors covered in graffiti. The sheer abundance of graffiti leads to the answer to this question. Is Barcelona a world Capital of Street Art? The simple answer is yes. But as is often the case, the simple answer is too, well, simple. The fact is that Barcelona was the European Capital of graffiti. We experienced a boom, a golden age, sparked by the biggest spray paint brand in the world – Montana Cans. But the council would put an end to those glory days in 2006. In this article we will dip into this topic.

Montana Cans – a Barcelona Graffiti Brand

Unanimously rated among the top spray paint brands in the world is Montana Cans, MTN. MTN was conceptualised and realised in Barcelona in 1994. When the legendary founders Jordi Rubió, Kapi and Moockie met, they envisioned a spray paint brand directed to writers. At the time writers were making do with industrial paints. Montana introduced a colour palette, caps and aerosols that were directed to the graff world. It was the story of the perfect meeting of minds at the perfect time.

Montana Cans, the top spray paint brand in Europe

The Golden Age of Graffiti in Barcelona

After the renowned documentary on graffiti – Style Wars, aired in Europe in the 1980’s, the graff scene exploded. Perhaps as Spain had recently come out of its 36 year dictatorship the youth were yearning for a way to release some pressure and express themselves. Graffiti would become just that release. As the scene started growing, so Montana Cans came out. At the time local laws were so lenient towards writers and graffiti, it made for the perfect environment for the scene to flourish. Artists would travel from all over Europe to Barcelona to get some of the famous cans. And while they were there, why not paint in the city that has such a lenient attitude towards this new art form. What only remains now in some photo and video footage is etched into the hearts of the artists who lived it. The Barcelona legends will reminisce about the golden age of Barcelona graffiti.

Prohibition

Alas, this would all come to a grinding halt like a freight train that threw on the breaks. New laws and legislation would do a complete 180 flip. Almost overnight the government changed its benevolent attitude and put strict laws into place. Heavy fines were issued to anyone seen painting walls without permission. A task team was formed to systematically clean up all of the walls. If clean up is the correct term. Rapidly Barcelona’s famous colourful walls would be painted over with the colour of dull. The dynamic scene was drawing to a close.

Epic mural of Majin-geta from Dragon Ball Z by Dayre (@thedayre)

Nowadays – the Street Art Scene Now

Of course if you want to entice a itchy fingered writer to paint somewhere where they don’t have permission, tell them its prohibited and get the law involved. As such, raw graffiti is still as prominent as ever on the doors, shutters and urban furniture in the city. The reason why these urban canvases are targeted is because they fall into a different category under legislation. Whereas the walls are strictly prohibited to paint on, these other surfaces fall into a kind of grey area, as the owners of them can choose to have artworks painted. That’s why there’s a beautiful mix of illegal graffiti and legal street art on the shutters. There have been projects that have arisen to find legal walls to paint. One of the most successful and world-famous of these projects is the Three Chimneys Park. Organised by Rebobinart, this is a zone where artists can paint freely and openly, without worrying about the authorities. Another outstanding project is the Arnau Gallery, organised by Street Art Barcelona. These walls feature some of the top artists on the international scene, and as the walls change monthly there is always something new and fresh to see.

Conclusion

So, is Barcelona famous for its graffiti? Undoubtedly. Is Barcelona one of the Street Art Capitals of Europe? Absolutely. Is it the Capital of Graffiti? Debatable. It still retains its reputation as being a graffiti capital, but lacks in epic murals where a city like Lisbon excels. But still, Barcelona takes Lisbon out the game for pure graff culture.

If you want to come and check out the Barcelona scene, accompanied by experts and locals who are involved, come check out our Street Art Experience. Come meet the artists themselves and ask them yourself, is Barcelona famous for its graffiti?