Some tourists like to leave a memento behind, after a visit, as well as take one home with them, which is causing a problem in Albaicín area of the city of Granada.

The mementos in questions are graffiti scribbled across walls, many belonging to very old houses. It is a form of vandalism, because you don’t have to break something to be a vandal; you just need to disfigure it.

Well, a group of homeowners up there in this picturesque part of the city have come up with a notice, designed as if it were one of the typical azulejos (decorated wall tiles) with a message: “Te gustaría que pintaran tu pared? A mí tampoco” and so there is no doublt about the message, underneath it is in English. “Would you like it if somebody painted on your wall? Me neither!”

This grafitti goes from short statements in small letters (of the kind that have become popular on social media) whilst others are rather larger and are on historic buildings, which was the case in July when a tourist from the Basque Country used a paint spray on a very old water cistern, The Aljibe de Zenete, which we reported on.

Sometimes scuffles have broken out between residents and tourists who have tried to stop the latter painting on a wall. The Spokesman for the Asociación Albaicín Habitable said that when confronted these tourists say, “And who are you to tell me what to do?”

He points out that if somebody leaves graffiti on a wall, it acts as a magnet for others, because his house on the Plaza de Taneros has often been targeted.

The Policía Local patrols the area, which lead to the arrested of the culprit behind the Zenete graffiti, because they caught him red-handed.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)

Keywords: Graffiti in Albaicin, Tourists, Spray Paint, Caught, Red-Handed, Confronted, Azulejo

news, andalucia, granada, city & metropolitan area, Graffiti in Albaicin, Tourists, Spray Paint, Caught, Red-Handed, Confronted, Azulejo