Guayabal: The Route of Hidden Murals

Guayabal: The Route of Hidden Murals

While the whole city fights for a photo in Comuna 13, there's an industrial neighborhood that has been painting its own history without permission for over a decade. Guayabal, that place most people know only for the airport or the traffic jam on Avenida Regional, hides one of the most honest urban art galleries in Medellín. Here there are no escalators or tourists with maps; there are cranes, warehouses, mechanic shops, and walls that tell another version of the city.

In July 2026, touring Guayabal remains a different experience. You won't find murals curated by the mayor's office or official routes with QR codes. What you'll find are works made by the neighborhood's people, collectives that have been painting for years, and a scene that moves to the rhythm of trucks loading and unloading goods. If you're one of those who believe that real street art lives on the edges and not in postcards, this is your plan.

Context: Art as Resistance in a Passing Neighborhood

Guayabal is a territory that has historically been a place of passage, not destination. Located in Comuna 14, between El Poblado and the industrial zone of Itagüí, this neighborhood grew around the Olaya Herrera Airport and the factories that arrived in the 50s and 60s. For decades, it was a place where people slept but didn't live: warehouses, depots, workshops, and high-traffic roads. That made it a perfect spot for institutional abandonment and, at the same time, a giant canvas for those who had nowhere to express themselves.

Urban art in Guayabal wasn't born from a government project or a tourism call. It was born from the need to take ownership of a space no one claimed. In the late 2000s, several young people from the neighborhood began painting the walls of abandoned warehouses. At first, they were signatures, tags, names. But over time, some organized into collectives and started making more elaborate pieces: portraits of social leaders, denunciations about unemployment, tributes to the informal workers who sustain the sector's economy.

Today, Guayabal has over 40 large-format murals distributed across its main streets and alleys. But unlike other areas of Medellín, here there's no signage, no official maps, and certainly no security guards watching over them. The murals coexist with everyday life: a laundromat next to a portrait of an Afro-Colombian woman, a body shop with a mural of flying fish, a hardware store sharing a wall with a tribute to recyclers. It's art that isn't exhibited; it's lived.

The most interesting thing is that this movement has grown without losing its essence. The collectives that paint in Guayabal don't seek fame on social media or sell works in galleries in El Poblado. Their goal is simpler: to make neighbors proud of their neighborhood and to make those who only pass by in cars, someday get out and look.

What to Do: The Map of 5 Murals Not on Instagram

Forget the tourist routes sold in the downtown. This is a real walk, the kind that gets your shoes dirty but fills your eyes. I recommend doing it calmly, in the morning or late afternoon when the sun isn't as harsh. Bring water, sunscreen, and if you can, go with a local who can tell you the stories behind each wall.

1. Tribute to Recyclers (Calle 44A with Carrera 65)

This is probably the most important mural in the neighborhood. It's on a warehouse that used to serve as a scrap metal depot and is now an informal collection center. The piece, painted by the Pintas Guayabal collective in 2021, shows three recyclers pushing a cart loaded with cardboard and bottles. What makes it special isn't just the technique, but the context: it's painted right where these workers unload every day. It's not an abstract tribute; it's a mirror.

The mural is approximately 12 meters wide and uses an earthy color palette with touches of yellow and red. If you look closely, you'll notice the faces aren't idealized: they have wrinkles, marked hands, tired gazes. That's what sets this mural apart from those painted in other areas: here there's no advertising aesthetic, there's reality.

2. The Woman Watching the Airport (Carrera 65 with Calle 45)

A few blocks from the Olaya Herrera Airport, on the wall of a truck parking lot, there's a portrait of an elderly woman looking at the sky. No one knows who she is. Neighbors say she's Doña Rosa, a woman who lived her whole life in Guayabal and waited for the return of her son who left to work in another country. The mural was painted by a local artist named Jairo "el Negro" Montoya, who has never wanted to confirm the story.

The curious thing about this piece is that it's in a place with heavy pedestrian traffic but little tourism. Most people pass by without looking. However, if you stop, you'll notice the woman has an expression of hope mixed with sadness. It's a reminder that Guayabal is a neighborhood of people who leave, but also of people who stay waiting.

3. Mural of Flying Fish (Calle 44B with Carrera 66)

On the facade of a body shop, an anonymous artist painted a surreal scene: fish flying over a sea of burnt oil. The piece is a metaphor for the resistance of the neighborhood's workers, who swim against the current of the informal economy. The colors are vibrant: electric blues, intense oranges, acid greens.

This mural isn't signed and no one knows exactly when it was painted. Some say it was in 2018, others say earlier. What's certain is that the shop owner cares for it as if it were part of his family. He hasn't had it painted over or removed, despite several "artists" offering him money to make a new one. For him, those fish are his good luck.

4. Tribute to Informal Workers (Carrera 67 with Calle 43A)

This is one of the most recent murals, painted in December 2025 by a group of young people from the neighborhood with support from the Community Action Board. The work shows a fruit vendor, a shoemaker, a woman selling empanadas, and a motorcycle taxi driver, all together in a kind of secular altar. The idea, according to the authors, was to recognize the work that keeps Guayabal alive.

The mural is interesting because it doesn't use the classic graffiti aesthetic. It's more of a hybrid between Mexican muralism and underground comics. The characters have exaggerated, almost caricatured expressions, but the details of their work tools are hyperrealistic. It's worth getting close and looking at each element: the fruits, the tools, the coins.

5. Alley of Cats (Calle 44C, between Carrera 65 and 66)

This isn't a single mural, but a series of small pieces covering the walls of an alley that connects two main streets. Cats appear in every imaginable pose: sleeping, hunting, looking at the viewer, climbing walls. No one knows who painted them, but they've become an unofficial symbol of the neighborhood.

The alley is narrow and a bit dark, so I recommend going during the day. But if you're one of those who appreciate street art in its purest form, this place is a gem. There's no signature, no explanation, no QR code. Just cats painted with spray paint and the certainty that someone, at some point, decided that wall needed life.

Where to Eat or Drink: Stops to Recharge After the Tour

After walking for hours looking at walls, the body craves real food. Guayabal isn't famous for its gastronomic offering, but it has places worth visiting that, incidentally, are part of the neighborhood's cultural circuit.

The Chicharrón Corner (Calle 44A with Carrera 66)

A traditional stall that has been selling chicharrón with arepa, morcilla, and papa rellena for over 20 years. It has no name on the facade, but everyone knows it by the smell coming from the fryer since 7 in the morning. The owner, Don Álvaro, is a neighborhood character who can tell you stories of what Guayabal was like before the murals arrived. A plate of chicharrón with arepa costs around $12,000 COP (reference price as of July 2026).

The Terrace of 45 (Calle 45 with Carrera 65)

A small bar open Thursday through Sunday from 6 in the evening. It's not a tourist spot, but a meeting point for workers in the area finishing their shift. They serve cold beer, aguardiente, and some picadas. On weekends, they sometimes play music live: salsa, vallenato, or national rock. It's the perfect place to sit and chat with a neighborhood muralist, who's almost always around.

The Workshop Café (Carrera 66 with Calle 44B)

A small café that opened in 2023 on the corner of a mechanic shop. The owner, a young man who grew up in Guayabal, decided to create a space where artists could meet without having to go to El Poblado. They serve Colombian origin coffee, natural juices, and vegan empanadas. Prices range from $5,000 COP for a black coffee to $15,000 COP for a special drink. The place is small, but it has a terrace with a view of one of the