Arte urbano como herramienta política: una crítica a la “festivalización” en el contexto español del siglo XXI

Street art, which emerged as a countercultural movement, has been progressively absorbed by the status quo. In Spain, in particular, it has become a tool for tourism and real estate promotion. Since the second decade of the 21st century, cities such as Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga, whose cases we analyse in this article, have seen a boom in urban art festivals where large-format muralism has been predominant. This institutionalisation has diluted the critical potential of urban art, turning it into an attraction of the neoliberal model. As a consequence, phenomena such as gentrification and the privatisation of public space have been favoured. Despite this panorama, it is proposed to rethink the relationship between urban art and public policies, promoting collaborative projects and self-managed spaces that favour dialogue between artists and local communities, to recover their critical capacity and promote a community use of public space, beyond its aesthetic value.