Nowadays, it doesn’t happen a lot that you can find ‘guided tours’ for free. Well, this street style tour not only is for free, it also runs from Monday through Sunday, 365 days a year. No need to sign up, just go as you feel like it. At first I thought that couldn’t really be true. Why would you give tours not only for free, but also every day, not knowing how many people will show up?
Living and walking through the neighborhood El Borne, always gives me so much energy. It’s such a creative area. It has unique little stores with handmade clothes, jewelry and bags. The coolest coffee-spots, best bakeries, great restaurants and more. I’m pretty sure it has a great amount of ‘hidden gems’ for all kinds of people.
Every now and then, wandering through these streets, some amazing graffiti art would struck my eye. I would make a picture of it, or I would just leave it be, but still be amazed by the art.
Who put it up there, when did he/she do this? Is it exciting? Would he/she get caught? Well, I am about to find out.
Arriving at 3pm at the Arc de Triomf, we are looking for our guide on this cloudy and rainy day. At this point we see a guy standing, raising his hand with a flyer of the ‘Barcelona Street Style Tour ‘. No doubt, this is him!
Setting of with our little group of 4, Mike starts explaining some ‘terms’ that are used a lot in the streetart-scenery. Mike himself isn’t an artist, but likes to call himself an ‘enthusiast’. He has major respect for the artist and their work. Their time, energy and reasons that they put in their ‘pieces’.
The tour guides you in approximately 2,5 hours through the historically neighborhoods of El Borne and the Gothic part, highlighting not only the many (sometimes hidden) creative pieces done by Barcelona’s street artists, it also tells you a lot about their backgrounds, the ‘rules’ in the scene, fun facts and many anecdotes.
What I found interesting is that it’s not only just ‘graffiti’ art as you would expect it. Of course you find a lot of stencel-art, but also there are a lot of stickers or even tiles. After the tour, you not only find yourself ‘searching’ for hidden treasures, you definitely have a lot more respect for the pieces done.
Special thanks to Mike, who by the way, I think is a great example of my previous blog, about the ‘sharing economy’ topic. Go Mike!
More info check out their website or facebook-page.