El Carmen Street Art

One of the most striking features in all of Valencia, Spain, is not a man-made structure or a natural wonder, but the amazing street art that lines the walls of El Carmen. Highly artistic and vibrant, the street art here is not made using just aerosol cans and spray paint, but it created with mixed media - fine paints, aerosol, and much more. You can find the art everywhere, particularly in the younger barrios focused around nightlife.

It would not be uncommon when wandering the streets of this area to stumble on an artist spending hours painting a wall with brushes in the middle of broad daylight. Despite their ubiquity in the area, these artists don’t have permission from the city to do what they’re doing; the expectation, though, is that they’ll make something worth the time and worth looking the other way for.

One of the most spectacular spots is around Calle de en Gordo. An expansive space with abandoned, crumbling buildings and parking lots, Calle de en Gordo features the work of many up-and-coming street artists.