Urban Art Tour in Valencia

Whether you’re a master painter or not an artist at all, you’ll see the streets of Valencia covered with beautiful representations at each turn.  One of the Coolest Things to do in Valencia is the Street Art Tour in Valencia.  Of all of the Tours in Valencia, the urban art tour is the one to go on to see murals and graffiti of numerous urban artists who have turned the city of Valencia into a giant museum.

Street art tour in Valencia

Our Urban Art Tour in Valencia starts in Calle Peydro and goes towards Plaza de la Merced, which is very close to the Central Market(Mercado Central) . In this street, you can find graffiti of two artists: Hyuro and Escif.

Hyuro is an Argentinian-born artist who is lives in Valencia. His pseudonym consists of both his first and last name.

Escif is one of the biggest players in the Valencian street art scene- to many he is even known as the Spanish Banksy.

The most recognizable work in Calle Peydro is El Furgón Policial of Escif, translating in English into The Police Van.  This work of art belongs to a series by Escif, designed to criticize police brutality and it’s relationship with politicians.  It aims to voice the protests of Valencians.

If you continue to walk through Calle Peydro, you will eventually see Plaza Merced. This town square is encapsulated by street art. The first piece that really stands out here is Austeridad by Escif, a work of art that was inspired by how authorities take advantage of the citizens.

The next piece by Hyuro is in all grey tones- showing the identity of Hyuro’s work. This is an artist that always invites us to reflect on the weight of living in a city, the complexity of integrating into a society, and animal abuse. On this mural, injured deer surrounded by spotlights are the protagonists of the painting. The whole world sees them, but no on tries to help.

In the same area as these murals, many other artists have left their mark on the shutters of local stores.  This is a form of art that can only be enjoyed for only a short amount of time, considering that the shutter is only put down when the shops are closed.  Some of these paintings have some context to the nature of the store, and some are completely unrelated- keep an eye out for interesting pieces on your next walk through Valencia.

When you leave Plaza de la Merced and turn onto Calle Calabazas, you will see a wolf pack surrounding a taxi. A mural that was created in collaboration of Hyuro and Escif.  If you continue walking in Calle Calabazas, you can visit the Central Market, the Silk Market, and Santos Juanes Church. It is a superb area for enjoying a nice breakfast, snack, or lunch.

When crossing Avenida María Cristina and going through Calle del Trench, you will find the round square Plaza Redonda on your right and on your left Plaza Lope de Vega. An initiative called ArquiCostura (in Spanish a combination of the words Architecture and Needlework) which holds space for the connection between architecture and needlework (knitting/sewing) in Valencia.

Next for the tour: walk towards the street Numancia, where you can observe various pieces of street art with many bright colors, that were created by Hyuro and Escif.

The tour continues in Calle de la Estameñeria, where you can find numerous colorful and bright pieces of graffiti, with a touch of abstract art, created by Esik, a Valencian graffiti artist who started making the streets more colorful in the mid 90’s.

Continuing onto Calle de la Purísima, and afterwards going down Calle Calatrava. Turn to your left where you have the Carrer Dels Valencians, and you can admire some creations of the Valencian artist Cere and Julieta XLF. Both of these members  are part of the group XLF (Por La Face).  This group has contributed to making art protest various happenings of the city. The group has existed for 12 years and their murals show the combination of all of their styles.

In the case of Julieta XLF, it is not necessary for her to leave her signature, since her work can be recognized very easily. Her illustrations include Japanese influences and her colorful murals are full of imaginary of animals, whimsical girls, and plants that are very characteristic and speak for themselves.  This is a direct contrast to the work of Cere, who pieces are grey toned, simple, and always with a clearly bold message.

Next stop, Plaza del Tossal, which you can reach through Calle de Alvarez. In Calle Caballeros you turn to the left and  find Plaza del Tossal. This square is located in the neighborhood el Carmen, and is a place where you can find some of the most impressive urban art murals in Valencia. On the left you can see an image of a car, which rushes out of a building. This is very clearly the work of Escif. On the right, you can see a representation of Moses, created by the Italian artist Blu. At the other side of the square, you can find an abstract work of art on the Stop War Victim’s Wall, a tribute to all the victims of the war, which is influenced by the Guernica of Pablo Picasso.

If you return to Calle Caballeros and cross Plaza de San Jaime, you’ll get to Calle Alta and Calle Baja. Both have beautiful and enormous murals on their buildings. In Calle Baja you can find an urban mural which shows a rabbit strangling a chicken over a paella pan. This is the work of the Italian artist Erica Il Cane. This work of art suggests that the chicken and the rabbit fight to death to decide which is the best ingredient for the paella valenciana. Below them you see the paella pan and a group of people in grey tones who are waiting to eat and are watching the scene without intervening.

If you continue to walk, you can pass through Calle Corona, where you’ll discover a mural of  colorful plants, on which a sweet and adorable girl is resting. This work of art has Japanese influences and was clearly created by Julieta XLF. In the same street, you can find works from the artists Blu, Eduardo Salvador, and Escif.

In Calle de la Benefcencia, you can enjoy more works of Julieta XLF.

At the crossroad of Calle de la Beneficencia and Calle Ripalda, you can look at a variety of small works of Julieta XLF and Deih, another Spanish urban artist whose murals are inspired by comics. This graffiti artist in Valencia continues to evolve and gets inspired by hip-hop without losing his own style of comics, books, and cartoons.

On the other side in Calle Ripalda, you can find Calle Doctor Chiarri, where you are you can see two big and bright murals by Julieta XLF.

When you cross Calle de la Beneficencia, you can find Calle de Na Jordana, a place where one of the biggest pieces of street art in Valencia is being shown. A great variety of urban artists have let their imagination run wild and have turned this place into a must-visit for those who love urban art.

To end the urban art tour, in Calle de Na Jordana, you can find Plaza de Bere Borrego and Galindo, which leads into Calle Museo, in which you can see Casa de los Gatos del Carmen and the Iglesia del antiguo Convento del Carmen. After this street you can find Plaza del Carmen, where you can find the headquarters of the Asociación de Ciudadanos Mayores de la Comunidad Valenciana (CIMA)- on this building is one of the murals that best represent the monuments of the city.

In front of Plaza del Carmen, along Calle Pintor Fillol, you can look at various artistic photos that were turned into huge posters. Some of the murals show a portrait of the daily life of the inhabitants of Valencia and some are for instance classic cars on the garage doors.

Last but not least, in Calle Roteros you can enjoy the demonstrative messages of Cere, the adorable Japanese dolls of Julieta XLF and the urban art murals that decorate some shops in the street. From this point, we would like to recommend you to visit the Serranos Towers.

If you want to return to where you started the Street art tour in Valencia,  you can take the bus lines 6, 16 and 26 of EMT Valencia, to Plaza del Ayuntamiento.