How Shops, Artists, and the City All Use the Same Walls for Different Reasons

I signed up for the AICAP graffiti tour thinking we’d just be pointing at murals and taking pictures. It ended up feeling more like a story about a city determined to wipe its walls spotless and the artists just as determined not to disappear.

The guide told us that painting without permission in Barcelona can cost you a

nywhere from around 300 to 6,000 euros. Not a little warning, but a fine that could seriously ruin someone’s month. She said the city spends real money scrubbing façades, metal shutters, and even older murals that people actually love looking at.

“The idea is to make the city look tidy again,” she said. But it also means a lot of good pieces are literally gone by the next morning.

So the same city tourists love for being colorful is, at the same time, bleaching that color away. That push and pull between control and creativity kind of became the theme of the whole walk.

A City That Cleans, an Underground That Climb

One thing that stuck with me was how she described the writers who paint way up high on rooftops or walls that are hard to reach. Those names you see floating above the streets are not random. They are a flex.

“If you have the guts to go high,” she told us, “people in the scene will notice.”

The higher and riskier the spot, the more respect you get. And the more the city cracks down, the more valuable it is to put your work somewhere they cannot easily clean. While the city invests in pressure washers, some writers are basically investing in ladders and courage.

At the same time, a lot of artists are doing something more practical and going legit. The guide said many of them have regular nine to five jobs and then do commercial work on the side, like murals for hotels, cafés, and shops. Same style, same hands, but now it is legal and paid.

She told us about Hotel Rec, which worked with a street artist who repeated the same visual language throughout the building. The murals, little details, and even neon lights all connect. The hotel ends up feeling like one big art piece. It is the same graffiti energy, just indoors and approved.

“Better to Invite Someone Than Get Tagged”

One thing I did not know is that in Barcelona it is actually smarter for a business to let someone paint its metal shutter than to leave it blank. A plain, clean door is basically an invitation for random tags. But if the shop commissions a mural, most writers will respect it and leave it alone.

“It’s like a code,” the guide said. “If someone took the time to do it, you wouldn’t bomb over it.”

That quiet code turns into a partnership. The shop gets something original and eye catching. The artist gets a legal wall, their name out in the world, and free advertising every time the shutter goes down.

Later, Laia, our CEA CAPA program coordinator, told me this is exactly why they recommend the tour.

“You see how art, business, and city policy overlap,” she said.“It’s not just pretty walls, it’s negotiation.”

She was right. It felt less like “street art equals rebellion” and more like a three way conversation between artists, shops, and the city.

Montana: From Spray Cans to Gallery Walls

We stopped outside Montana Gallery and the guide explained that Montana Colors started in Barcelona and was one of the first companies to make spray cans specifically for graffiti. It makes sense that they ended up with a gallery too.

Inside, they rotate shows about every month and a half. That gives both local and international artists the chance to show their work somewhere official without worrying that it will be gone the next day.

She mentioned an artist named Tallone, who has shifted into more patchwork, abstract, digital influenced work. It was a good reminder that a lot of these artists do not stay stuck on one style. They move from walls to canvases, from spray to prints and merch, from the street to galleries and then back again when they want to.

It is a survival strategy. If the city makes the streets harder, you move your work to products, collabs, and online spaces.

And some do that. She told us about an artist who started putting his designs on towels so people could “carry the art in daily life.” That’s a very 2025 way of staying relevant: if the wall gets cleaned, at least your pattern is in someone’s beach bag.

When the Street Gets Exploited

Not everything we heard was dreamy. The guide was honest about how street art gets used and sometimes exploited. She mentioned a place called Maxó that, according to her, takes photos of public art and sells them without crediting or paying the artists.

“Just because it’s in the street doesn’t mean it’s free for you to make money from,” she said.

Legally, once something is in public space, the artist does not have many rights. That is the paradox. The work is public and everyone can see it, but the original creator might not see anything if someone else turns it into a product. That part felt less like a tour and more like a mini journalism lesson about who owns what, who profits, and who gets erased from the story.

Faces on the Wall

One of my favorite stops was a wall full of faces by a Brazilian artist, Gaston Liberto. Our guide said she can paint in almost any style, and this wall proved it. There were faces that felt a little Picasso, a little pop, and little nods to people like Rosalía and Manu Chao. The wall was bright and layered and clearly painted by someone who knows their references but is not just copying them.

Everything was done with acrylic and spray. In the corner, she signed it and added her Instagram handle, @gaston_liberto. Very street artist in 2025 energy. Paint the wall and then make sure people can find you online before it gets washed away. If the mural disappears, the photos and tags do not. That is one way artists fight erasure now. They paint the city and archive the internet.

Love Across the City

The tour ended in a much softer place. Our guide told us about a couple who met, fell in love, and started leaving tiny love notes around the city back in 2012. They upcycle old cans and leave little messages in English, Spanish, and Catalan. They are self taught and not big name artists, but their work feels personal, like the city is their shared notebook.

Laia said pieces like that should be protected.

“They tell stories about the people who live here,” she said.“If we clean everything, we lose that.”

I felt that. Not all street art is a giant mural or a political message. Sometimes it is just two people in love, quietly decorating the place they live.

So What’s the Story Here?

Walking through Barcelona on this tour, I kept thinking about how many people are trying to control the same walls at once. The city brings fines and cleaning crews. The artists bring ladders, sketchbooks, and spray cans. The shops hope for something beautiful instead of random tags. The galleries and brands sometimes support and sometimes take advantage.

Barcelona is definitely tightening control over public space. But the artists are not just giving up. They are adapting. Some go higher. Some go legal. Some go commercial. Some go romantic.

And people like our guide, Laia, students like me, and blogs like this one are part of the ecosystem too. We are the ones who notice, take photos, and tell the stories before the walls get wiped clean.

If the city insists on cleaning everything, the least we can do is remember what was there.