Lost Street Art by Dalaiama in the aldeia do Meco, 1 August 2022

Lost Street Art by Dalaiama in the aldeia do Meco, 1 August 2022 I was saddened to discover that one of my favourite pieces of street art in Meco, by the artist Dalaiama had been permanently lost following the destruction of the building on which it had been painted. Thankfully other examples of his work

Three-dimensional street art in Aveiro, 22 February 2022

Came across some unusual street art this morning by an unknown artist, ‘larus fuscus #1′. Larus fuscus is the Latin name of the lesser black-backed gull, a common sight at Portuguese seaside towns, and this work was constructed of moss on netting in the shape of a flying gull. Sadly, it’s clearly past its best,

Stencils and graffiti in Aveiro, 22 February 2022

I’ve spotted this stencil at a few places around Aveiro, ‘Em cada esquina um amigo’ (‘On every corner a friend’) is the first line of Grândola, Vila Morena, a song by Jose Afonso (known as ‘Zeca’), and the image is of Zeca with his fist raised in the salute of the revolution against the fascist

Street Art in Barra, 12 November 2021

Barra is undergoing a lot of development at the moment, but alongside the new buildings there is always street art from the past. 

What’s in a name?

tl;dr: The name of the blog has changed. The observant reader might have noticed that the name of this blog has changed. No longer is it ‘Tales of Meco Beach’, now it’s just ‘/ˈsnæp.ʃɒt/’. But why change the name and what on earth does it mean? Simply put, /ˈsnæp.ʃɒt/ is the phonetic version of ‘snapshot’,

Playing with pano, 27 October 2021

Took the Pocket 2 out for a spin in Aveiro, concentrating on panoramas of this beautiful city and its canals.

Aveiro: The Car Park, 27 October 2021

Driving into Aveiro the main road leads past the salt flats on the left and the nightclub Sal on the right. Turning right towards the city centre, on the immediate right is a small car park built (if that is the right word) on the remains of several demolished houses. Actually, I was never sure

Aveiro: The Underpass, 27 October 2021

Alongside the canal that forms the central attraction of Aveiro is a path that leads to what was Club 8, the go-to nightclub in the city. Now long gone, it’s a nightclub called ‘Sal’ (salt, Aveiro’s premier export) and the buildings around have been largely demolished. The path to Sal leads under the main road

Aveiro: The Overpass, 27 October 2021

Headed off along the railway line today. As well as a lot of commissioned street art, there is also a lot of graffiti to be found on the bridges and a nearby overpass. 

Actors of Urban Change, 27 October 2021

Several years ago, the city of Aveiro initiated Vivacidade, ‘Dressing-Up the City Voids’. The aim was to enable the local community to transform abandoned spaces into useful places. Actors of Urban Change was the team who coordinated and promoted the project’s objectives. This old stencilled wall looks like it’s an advertising hoarding for the campaign,

Artwork by Zooter, 27 October 2021

Tucked away near the park with the sculpture by Luis Queimadela is a small piece by the Portuguese artist Dalila Montero, known as ‘Zooter’. Zooter has been commissioned for various street art projects around Aveiro, and I’m not sure whether this is part of one of these commissions or if this is a personal piece.

Old sculptures in Aveiro, 27 October 2021

As everyone who knows me knows, I love Aveiro for its canals, its fabulous buildings and its magnificent street art. In 2009, Aveiro in collaboration with the VerArte Gallery, installed 14 sculptures around the city by the Portuguese sculptor Luis Queimadela. Titled “InVitro,” These square-face, block-body sculptures represent post-modern bodies through extremes, such as face and

Lost Art: The destruction of urban graffiti

It is a given that graffiti and street art is often a transient artform; existing works may be painted over by either the owners of the structure on which the artwork is found, removed (if it is from a well-known artist such as Banksy, or just painted over by another street/graffiti artist. However, as often

Aveiro: The Metal Fence, 13 October 2021

Wherever someone has created a barrier or left a bare wall, graffiti artists or taggers have covered it. Many years ago the building behind this fence was demolished,  and the owners erected a metal fence before the land was redeveloped. However, nothing was ever done and the fence, tagged long ago by some forgotten artist,

Estação de Aveiro, 13 October 2021

Trains have long been a target for tagging, and the station is no exception.

Aveiro: The Alley, 13 October 2021

In the centre of the city there’s an alley that used to be lined with derelict buildings. On one side was a wall of street art from a long-forgotten festival, while on the other the buildings were being renovated. I imagined that since then the art was long gone. But no, it seems to have

Aveiro: The Underpass, 13 October 2021

The road to the Yacht Club passes under the A25, the main road that runs from the coast at Barra all the way to Spain. Underneath the road, an area has been paved over as a car park. Inevitably graffiti artists have left their mark.

Aveiro: The Yacht Club, 13 October 2021

Just outside the city, the Aveiro Yacht Club is a dockyard and marina for boats from Aveiro and beyond. Once a bustling area, the land around the Club is now largely derelict and has become a haven for graffiti artists.

Stencil Street Art in Aveiro, 13 October 2021

Political street art is common in Aveiro, whether these are vintage works from before the turn of the twenty-first century or modern messages about voting in the last general election. It is quite popular in recent years for activists from political parties to prepare stencils of their message and spray these on walls around the

Grafitti and Street Art in Aveiro, 6 October 2021

It’s been a long time since we were last in Aveiro and it was an opportunity to check up on some old favourites and new work.