Costa del Sol street art

Estepona’s International Mural Competition has received 116 entries for the annual bid to become immortalised in the street gallery town.

As an addition to Estepona’s existing 64 giant wall murals, Estepona council has been seeking another 10 building-high paintings. The Costa del Sol town has already established itself on the world stage as a destination for fans of street art, and now they are doubling down and making additions each year.

For this year’s competition, the jury has already shortlisted 10 experienced outdoor artists to add to the town’s Urban Art Route. All 10 artists will paint their murals between October 7 and 17. Once finished, the best will be chosen on October 18. There are €27,000 in prizes up for grabs, with the first prize receiving €10,000, the second €5,000, and 8 finalists will receive €1,500 each.

The subject of each creation is entirely up to the finalists and has no specific restrictions on what they represent in paint. Nonetheless, they must be entirely original and not painted before on any other wall.

The open-air museum, which Estepona has become, has been expanding its exhibition for the last 10 years. One of the murals, which covers 4 blocks of flats and a total of 1,000 square metres, is listed as the tallest wall mural in Spain and incorporates telephone cables to represent fishing lines in homage to the history and culture of Estepona.