"Grey Walls" is an illegal action carried out in Madrid in May 2012.
The intervention is a response to the nonsensical management of the urban landscape by the Madrid City Council in those years and its "zero tolerance" policy regarding graffiti.
We painted gray patches over the existing gray patches used to censor any kind of expression in public spaces, be it signatures, graffiti, drawings, declarations of love, or political slogans. Inside our new patches, we left a window to the previous gray, through which messages could be read that satirized the color.

CONTEXT

In Madrid, where there is “zero tolerance” against the “inappropriate” use of public space, we seek to highlight the absurdity of the situation and pose questions to the citizen.
Do we want a gray city?
Indiscriminately, cleaning crews remove any type of expression from public roads.

STRATEGY

The interventions were carried out in broad daylight.
Dressed as city council workers, with high-visibility vests, warning signs and a bucket of grey paint.
Neither the authorities nor the citizens questioned the illegality of the action.
The eight interventions of “Grey Walls” were covered in grey by the City Council.
The one that stayed the longest was one week.
The shortest time was fifteen minutes, the exact amount of time it took for us to be caught red-handed.