HBG

I live on a short street with houses on one side only on the outskirts of Torrevieja. They’re decent houses built around 30 years ago, and we’ve lived here for ten years. We’re the only English family in the street, most of the rest are Scandinavian owned, used as holiday homes. Of the two Spanish houses, one owner has died and the family have just left it, the other people live in Bilbao and have abandoned it this year, it’s up for sale at a silly price.

We’re the only ones who live here all year round, but Swedish neighbours two doors away spend ten months of the year here. They’ve owned the house for 30 years, the husband is a retired builder and spends every day working on his house. He’s turned it into a palace, especially the outside wall, which is a work of art, two metres high, for the burglars, with marble inlays, and people come along just to admire it.

During their two-month absence this summer, the snotty-nosed local graffiti artists have used their perfect canvas to display their skills. They’ve turned the beautiful wall into a disgusting and ugly display of ignorance.

When the Swedish owners returned a couple of weeks ago, I spoke to them and the big man had tears in his eyes when he pointed to his wall. I wondered how he could clear up the mess and offered to help, but he declined.

I was sitting on the terrace tonight when I noticed a giant removal lorry, with a trailer, slowly driving up the street. They stopped outside the Swedish house and at this moment, even though its dark, they’re loading up the vehicle.

I got some minor graffiti at the same time, but I’ve got a scruffy wall, purposely, and I’m not going to let some snotty nosed graffiti artist drive me away. I should mention that some of the graffiti is in English.

jojojojojojojojojojojojo

Its sad, but there is a lot of graffiti everywhere in Spain, well certainly everwhere I've been! The Spanish youths dont seem to go in for vandalism as they do in the UK tho - I'm often pleasantly surprised by things that are in the streets and not trashed or broken, but sadly, they do like to draw on everything!

Maybe they should provide big areas of "canvas" for these guys to get it out of their system????


Jo xxx

Dick Dasterdly

Certainly wouldnt buy a property in a graffiti smeared area,but if it began after I moved in I wouldnt rest till I caught the ignorant P... Artists and shoved their aerosols where the sun dont shine,...sideways.

Very sad about the Swedes.
Quite understandable however, as their Viking spirit has long gone, and the vast majority of present day Swedes are the exact opposite, tending to run a mile to avoid trouble or any form of confrontation rather than face up to it.

Madridboy

no

Mitzyboy

We've been graffiti free here until recently, and then one wall seems to have taken the hit at the rear of one of the houses. They have kept just to that wall but nothing more ... I was a little concerned however that my nice white wall at the front might be an attraction to them!

Sam Greenfield

Remind me to pack mi brushes for the summer Mitz

HBG

Two corners away, an elderly Englishman lives in a house overlooking a large public park, where I walk my dog every day. Over the recent years I’ve seen his walls covered in graffiti one day and noticed that he’d painted over it the next day, time after time, he must have used gallons of paint.

A couple of months ago I noticed a large CCTV camera halfway up a tall lamppost, overlooking his wall and thought that it must be a dummy one, because there are no official ones around. But it works, he’s been graffiti-free for months.

chulo

If that happened to us I would do the same and move either away from the town or the country.

It may well only be a wall and it may have been wise to make it less attractive, but when it is your property to do as you please (within the law) and make it the way you want it should be left alone by all.

I fear if they had removed the mess it would in all likelyhood be graffitied again.

From what I gather of local Spanish law enforcement a complaint would be a waste of time.

jackytoo

I can remember a time when Spain was graffiti free, now it is everywhere, sad.

Veleta

I have the tall walls that would be a potential target for a graffitti artist so I am frantically trying to grow my Buganvilla so that it drapes down over the street side and forms a wall of flowers. Looks good and can't be graffittied!

fionamw

Two thoughts, one trite: i knew there was at least one good reason to live in the campo. 2:- a couple i know had second thoughts about sending their son to a school because the husband didn't like that the area was full of graffiti. The wife pointed out that of the three schools in the area, the french graffiti was near the french school, the english near the english & the spanish near the spanish. make of that what you will

steviedeluxe

Surely you're only talking about the smaller towns/cities? Even back in the 70s/80s you'd get graffiti in the big cities - of a different kind I admit - it was political and normally anti-Nato stuff.

I think New York had a very bad history of graffiti at one point, especially on their underground system. When they started their crack-down on petty crime, they made a point of attacking this, because they found if an area looks rundown, more criminals tend to appear and "take their chances"!

Dick Dasterdly

Hmm,could give them a prickly problem even when the flowers fall off, as long as you dont cut it back too much.

Fredbargate

VOTANO

warren d

There's a guy called Colin Gradon, comes to Ibiza for his holiday every year and spends part of his holiday painting over graffiti with white paint. Vandals sometimes paint messages to him on top of his white paint, like "no white walls" or the message below that I have seen on several walls.