Today we have the pleasure to share with you an article by Javier Garcia about Urban Art on the Camino de Santiago.
Javier García is a specialized guide in urban art and a graffiti writer by vocation. He directs Cooltourspain, a social, cultural and educational project around contemporary culture. Thanks to his tours and workshops you can participate in alternative experiences in the city of Madrid. He offers us a detailed description of the festivals and events that take place in the different Jacobean routes, so that the pilgrims can get to know the Urban Art on their Way to Santiago.
Urban Art on the Camino de Santiago
One of the most beautiful routes in the world is traveled year after year by pilgrims of very different profiles. On the one hand we can find retired people with enough free time to do the Camino de Santiago, and on the other hand groups of young people who want to live an alternative experience with their friends in summer.
Regardless of the personal tastes of each one, the Way offers multiple opportunities to discover the charm of the towns through which the different routes pass. Therefore, we will stop today to talk with Javier García, a professional graffiti artist in Madrid, about the street art that walkers and cyclists will find in the different stages.
In this sense, Galician, Castilian-León, Cantabrian or Asturian municipalities have observed how the fashion of street art can offer an incentive for any intermediate or final point of the stage. Thus, we observe how urban art can become a tool of tourist attraction.
Graffiti on the English Way
First, we will talk about the town of Ordes (A Coruña). This municipality of 12,000 inhabitants is located just 29 kilometers from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and can be a strategic point where you can take a street art tour, on foot or by bike, to discover its wonderful murals.
Since 2009, the festival Desordes Creativas has been regenerating the urban landscape of the city, acting in favour of social dialogue and creating critical thinking. The artists who have participated in the past editions are contemporary creators with skills in different painting techniques. Moreover, their representations are full of symbolism.
Thanks to the work of artists such as Manolo Mesa, Maz or Reskate, old, disused or abandoned spaces have been converted into new places full of life and color for the collective enjoyment of pilgrims, both national and international.
Street art along the Vía de la Plata
The 26th stage of the Camino de Santiago along the Vía de la Plata will take us to the municipality of La Bañeza in Leon. At this point, the walker or cyclist will not only be able to delight his or her eyes with Romanesque churches, but will also be able to photograph numerous decorative spray-painted murals.
This is possible thanks to Art Aerorap, a multidisciplinary event that brings together the latest trends in urban culture. Dozens of artists paint the facades of buildings at street level, or on a lift crane, while passers-by come to gawk at the skills of these graffiti artists.
Above all, one of the characteristics of decorative muralism is that the works done can remain intact for years and therefore, pilgrims will be able to admire it after the passage of time.
Street art at the end of the Camino de Santiago
If, once you have finished the Way of Saint James, you still feel like discovering the beautiful works of art after asking for the Compostela, you should know that both in the city center and on the outskirts, you will be able to continue investigating the urban movement on your own.
We will start with the Delas Fest, a community and social example of urban art focused on women. In a mostly male industry, it is necessary to organize this type of events to promote parity in the cultural movement. Another example of this art can be found soon in the more than 100 meters of wall of the Avenida de Lugo.
Likewise, we invite you to remain attentive throughout the Camino. Graffiti and urban art can be done either legally or without permission, and therefore you will be surprised by the amount of pieces and artistic interventions along the Way.
