13 Best Street Art in Madrid: Urban Art Gallery with Map
Madrid is a fascinating city for art and culture lovers, and only a few tourists realize that it also offers stunning street art. From vibrant murals to elaborate graffiti, street art in Madrid has overtaken the city.
When planning a trip to any city, I always look for murals because it brings me to off-the-beaten places that are not on the radar of many tourists. I’ve various dedicated street art posts for the cities I’ve hunted down, including my hometown, Tbilisi, and other cities in Georgia, such as Batumi and Kutaisi, but also Polish cities of Krakow, Poznan, and Katowice. So, I needed to include Madrid street art from my collection.
Street art in Madrid has become an important part of the city’s urban culture. It has given a different dimension to the town, where some of the murals are thought-provoking works and statement pieces. Local and international artists mainly do these murals within a few annual art festivals.
Madrid graffiti and murals are scattered across the city; many are within the city center and its bordering neighborhoods, while others are a bit far and require public transport but are close to metro stations.
This urban art gallery post lists some of the most famous street art in Madrid that I managed to look for while wandering the streets. If you prefer to learn more about the artists and their murals, you can join the Madrid street art tour (via GetYourGuide or Viator), which takes you through the city’s rich street art scene.
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Street art in Madrid map
For a more comfortable way of seeing those murals, refer to this street art Madrid map on Google Maps. Save it and use it whenever you need. If you download the area for offline use, you will not need the data to access the spots
13 of my favorite street art in Madrid
Please note that these are some of my favorite and famous Madrid murals I collected during my visit. And while there are many others, you might have little time to devote to hunting them down in your Madrid itinerary. Therefore, I present the ones that are easier to see.
Calle de Embajadores
One place with lots of murals and graffiti in Madrid is Calle de Embajadores, a very long street that cuts through several Madrid neighborhoods, including Lavapiés.
Beautiful and remarkable art pieces adorn almost every second building, starting from its intersection with C. de Juanelo. Here are a few noteworthy stops; however, several pieces that didn’t make the list are still included in the map above.
Run Away
The work of Dean Stockton, a British street artist, also known as D*Face, Run Away incorporates pop art elements typical of his signature style. The mural, created in 2020, is part of a series that focuses on love and romance.
It features a couple hugging each other, but if you look closer, it’s not hard to notice that the man is already melting and disappearing while there’s a tear just about to drop from her closed eyes.
Still Live Lavapies
Facing the Run Away mural, Nicolás Romero, or Ever, created another remarkable street art in Madrid. This Argentinian artist does anthropological research before he creates any piece to understand the issues and values of the community he is set to work in.
Therefore, his rich and colorful Madrid mural incorporates art history references with figurative elements of the ethnically diverse Lavapies neighborhood.
Using Matisse’s iconic Dance painting motives, Ever tried to symbolize a powerful sense of unity in the neighborhood. Inside the dance circle, he added fruits, flowers, and a range of vintage items referencing the famous Sunday El Rastro flea market.
Chimpancé (chimpanzee)
The Chimpance combines street art and painting created by Okuda San Miguel and Bordalo II. It is breathtaking with its colorful and bright geometrical patterns that make up the face of a chimpanzee.
It is very characteristic for Okuda to use geometrical shapes in bold colors, while Bordalo uses recycled materials to make 3D sculpture-like street art in Madrid.
It is one of the most eye-catching art murals and carries an important environmental message about the necessity of reducing waste and recycling. And since chimpanzees are an endangered species, it is a reminder to protect our planet’s inhabitants.
Walls of the Tabacalera Art Promotion
The former tobacco factory turned into a cultural space is another spot to see different graffiti and murals in Madrid, which sort of resembles Fabrika Tbilisi. The Madrid Street Art Project initiated the Muros Tabacalera (Walls of Tabacalera) in 2014, where artists had the opportunity to beautify its cement walls.
Sadly, the space is temporarily closed, and I could only see the art adorning its walls once you make a turn on Calle de Miguel Servet.
Sun Clock
Sun Clock, or El reloj de sol de Sombrerete in Spanish, is one of the oldest and less-known street art in Madrid, created in 1985 by Ángel Aragonés. The piece features a woman hanging out clothes from a balcony in the center while abstract but functional sundials surround her.
Like Ever, the artist dedicated his mural to the residents of the multicultural Lavapies.
Cubism-inspired piece (my interpretation)
A work of two artists, Zosen Bandido and Minda Hamada, this colorful mural in Madrid is inspired by cubism and Neo-Fauvism, a poetic painting style of the mid-1920s.
Tercios Españoles
This small mural at 6 Calle de Grafal Street is dedicated to the Tercio, a so-called third military unit of the Spanish Army during the rule of Spanish Habsburgs and Catholic Monarchs.
The unit was an essential and powerful land force of the Spanish Empire, who sometimes fought with the navy. They were the most professional infantries in the world due to the efficacy of their battleground constructions. They were a crucial step in forming modern European armies of skilled volunteers.
El Pilar
The Pillar in English is a work by Mexican artist Hilda Palafox, who tags her murals under Poni. She was one of the artists at the Urvanity Art Fair 2019.
On her Instagram account, she explains that her piece was inspired by sisterhood, described as a solidary connection among us, among women, with the firm aim to build networks that push social change to create equality.
Calle Invisible
The mural, translated as the invisible street, painted on the wall of a building, gives the visual impression of a street between two buildings.
El fabuloso cuento de ser diferente
The Fabulous Tale of Being Different is my absolute favorite street art in Madrid among the ones I have seen. The artist Case Maclaim is one of my favorites, too; he has done a few murals in my hometown, Tbilisi.
Located in Pasaje de la Caja de Ahorros, close to Puerta de Sol Square, the piece was created in 2021 as part of the Urvanity Art Fair. It is an excellent example of the outstanding talent and originality found in the city’s contemporary art community.
The piece shows a confident, black child in a golden wheelchair, wearing a self-made mermaid costume. It’s striking, emotional, and thought-provoking!
He believes that the beauty of fairytales is up to our imagination to create how a character moves, looks, or talks, which is not a subject of debate because, like a fingerprint, it is very personal and unique. With this in mind, he gave Madrid a new character of an unknown fairytale, hoping it would encourage people to create their own story where they feel as confident as this kid.
Offset
Swiss artists duo Nevercrew creates the mural in the most lively and gay-friendly Chueca neighborhood. Featuring a pyramid of brown bears was inspired by Madrid’s own emblem – El oso y el madroño – where the last one has a strawberry tree leaf on its nose.
The artists wanted to call attention to the delicate balance between nature and humanity and how natural space and resources are reduced because of our attitudes and industrial progress.
A homage to two women
Another beautiful mural in the Chueca neighborhood is the work of Helen Bur, who pays homage to two women – Hyuro, a street artist who passed away a few years ago, and the artist’s mother, a sculptress.
About This Town
Serbian artist Artez is another favorite muralist who created a few street art pieces in Tbilisi. This mural, made in 2019, is dedicated to Madrid itself, the city that attracts people from around the globe to experience its cultural and artistic vibe.
The mural, located on a pedestrian shopping street, contrasts its location, where a girl holds a pile of books, all essential for Madrid’s culture and history, instead of carrying shopping bags.
Street art galleries to check out
A few contemporary art galleries in Madrid focus on post-graffiti and urban art. Curators organize monthly exhibitions showcasing established local and international artists and those who have just started.
Swinton is another one to check out if you are into urban art – it sells a wide selection of adult and children’s books, artists’ designs, clothes, and prints on the upper floor, while the bottom is the art gallery and event space.
La Causa is an art shop where you can see and purchase prints of international and local artists. Los Artistas del Barrio is an art shop and a gallery focusing on the local art scene. They have some of the most gorgeous contemporary art pieces that range from 10 to 25 EUR.