Street art tour in Madrid with a real artist
Have you ever joined a graffiti tour where the guide has never actually painted a wall?
In Madrid there are several options to discover murals and street art, but very few are led by someone who truly lives that culture from the inside.
My proposal is different: I am NKS, urban artist and muralist with more than 20 years of experience, and I guide this walk from the point of view of someone who has painted in different neighbourhoods of Madrid and has pieces on the streets of Lavapiés.
This street art tour in Madrid is not designed as a generic tourist visit, but as a closer, more authentic and more useful experience for anyone who really wants to understand what is happening on the walls of the neighbourhood.
Over 2 hours we combine walking and practice: first we explore Lavapiés looking at murals, graffiti and street art; then we spend a full hour on a creative tote bag workshop.
What makes this tour different
This is not a tour told from the outside.
When a route is led by someone who has never painted, the experience usually stays on the surface.
People talk about styles, names and dates, but the essential elements are missing: the inner logic of graffiti, the tension of the process, the context of each intervention and the perspective of someone who knows this language through practice.
Here, that difference is clear from the very first moment.
During the walk you will see my own pieces in the neighbourhood, as well as works by other national and international artists. Some of my interventions in Lavapiés are linked to the CALLE festival, an important reference for the area’s urban art, and that allows me to explain not only the finished work but also the process, the context and the relationship between the mural, the space and the public.
A tour guided by a muralist
I have worked for more than two decades with spray cans, rollers, stencils, markers and many different surfaces.
I have painted for personal projects, collaborations, festivals, professional commissions and urban actions with very different approaches.
Thanks to that background, the tour is not based on repeated data, but on criteria, visual reading and real experience.
If you are looking for a street art tour in Madrid with a more authentic and less touristy voice, this format makes sense precisely because it is guided by someone who is part of that ecosystem.
What you will see during the experience
Lavapiés is one of the most intense neighbourhoods in Madrid to talk about urban art.
You will find large scale murals, more spontaneous pieces, painted shutters, shopfronts, stencils, lettering and different visual layers that make every walk unique.
It is not just about seeing painted walls, but about understanding how they interact with the neighbourhood, its rhythms and its cultural mix.
Throughout the tour I will comment on styles, techniques, materials, compositional decisions and different ways of looking at each piece. We will also talk about how a single street changes over time, what distinguishes a mural from other kinds of interventions and why some works connect so strongly with the identity of Lavapiés.
Creative tote bag workshop at the end
The second part of the experience is designed so you can move from observation to action.
After the walk, we hold a creative workshop lasting 1 hour where you will apply visual resources from graffiti and street art onto a tote bag.
The idea is not to give a quick demonstration, but to spend enough time experimenting, trying things and leaving with a personal piece created by you.
In one hour you will learn to:
- Prepare the composition on the tote bag.
- Use stencils with more control.
- Work with spray and markers without fear or rush.
- Combine layers, colour and details so the piece has its own personality.
No previous experience is required.
The workshop is designed both for people who are approaching this visual language for the first time and for those who are already artistically curious and want to experience it from the inside.The workshop is designed both for people who are approaching this visual language for the first time and for those who are already artistically curious and want to experience it from the inside.
Practical information and booking
The total duration of the experience is 2 hours: one part is a walk through the neighbourhood and 1 full hour is the workshop.
The tour is available in Italian, Spanish and English, with a clear advantage for Italian speaking visitors:
the tour is realized by an Italian native artist who has been living in Madrid since 2003.
Bookings for both the public and private tours are made directly through the calendar on the tour page.
WhatsApp is reserved for special tours, groups, companies, events or tailor made experiences.
If you want to discover the urban art of Lavapiés through the eyes of a muralist and finish by creating your own piece, this experience is for you.
You can check schedules and book via the calendar on the main tour page:
street art tour in Madrid.