The Mountain Art Trail of the Costa Blanca
- Katherine Henderson
- Jul 13
- 5 min read
Discover the Creative Villages of the Marina Alta
Most visitors come to the Costa Blanca for its beaches, dramatic mountain scenery and picturesque white villages. Yet hidden amongst the valleys of the Marina Alta is another landscape waiting to be discovered—a landscape shaped not only by nature, but by creativity.
Here, art doesn't live behind the walls of galleries. It spills onto village streets, climbs across whitewashed houses, appears unexpectedly around quiet corners and tells stories that belong to the people who live here.
Living and creating in these mountains has taught us that every village has its own creative voice. Some tell their stories through murals, others through poetry, sculpture or community traditions. As artists ourselves, we invite you to look beyond the scenery and discover the artistic soul of the Marina Alta.
Whether you are an artist, photographer, walker or simply someone who enjoys discovering places with character, this trail offers a different way to explore the inland Costa Blanca.
Stop One – Tàrbena
Where Creativity Belongs to Everyone
Nestled high in the mountains, Tàrbena has quietly become one of the Marina Alta's most creative villages.
Its colourful murals brighten unexpected corners, while every summer the streets themselves become a temporary canvas. Children are given a theme and, during a special evening, they paint directly onto the roads. By the following morning the village has become an open-air gallery filled with youthful imagination. Over the months the paintings gradually fade beneath the footsteps of neighbours and visitors, before a new generation creates them again the following year.
It is a simple tradition, but one that says something important about Tàrbena.
Here, creativity belongs to everyone.
This same philosophy continues each July when Es Llavadors, the historic village laundry, is transformed into a community art exhibition. Professional artists curate and hang the exhibition, yet there are no prizes and no judging. Anyone over the age of fourteen is welcome to exhibit alongside experienced artists.
The exhibition's guiding principle is beautifully simple:
Everyone Welcome.
It seems fitting that the exhibition takes place in the old laundry. Once, this was where neighbours gathered to wash clothes, exchange news and strengthen the social fabric of the village. Today it continues to bring people together—this time through paintings, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles and ideas. The conversations remain; only the medium has changed.
Stop Two – Kennie's House
A Mountain Landmark Born from One Imagination
Leaving Tàrbena towards Benigembla, the winding road across the Coll de Rates reveals one of the Marina Alta's most unexpected sights.
Known simply as Kennie's House, this extraordinary private home has become a landmark for travellers crossing the mountains.
Walls, terraces, sculptures and found objects combine to create an ever-changing personal environment unlike anywhere else in the region. Created entirely through one man's imagination, it reminds us that creativity doesn't always need a gallery, an exhibition or official recognition.
Sometimes it simply grows because someone feels compelled to create.
Many visitors stop to photograph the house before continuing their journey, and it has become such a familiar sight that it now appears as a destination on Google Maps.
Stop Three – Benigembla
Murals that Preserve Memory
Benigembla's contribution to the Mountain Art Trail has a different character.
Through the BIMAU mural project, walls have become storytellers.
Scenes celebrating agriculture, family life and local traditions preserve memories that might otherwise disappear with time. Rather than decorating the village, the murals record its identity, honouring the generations who shaped life in these mountains.
Walking through Benigembla feels rather like walking through an illustrated history book, where everyday life becomes worthy of celebration.
Stop Four – Xaló
Where Poetry Becomes Public Art
In Xaló, creativity begins not with paint, but with words.
The Pinta'm un Poema (Paint Me a Poem) project grew from a conversation between friends who loved poetry and visual art. Their idea was wonderfully simple: instead of reading poems in books, why not encounter them while walking through the village itself?
Local poets contributed their writing. Artists generously volunteered to create murals inspired by selected verses. Residents offered the walls of their homes, while the Town Council provided the materials and prepared the buildings where necessary.
The result is a unique open-air gallery where literature and painting become inseparable, inviting visitors to wander slowly through the streets, discovering poems transformed into images.
Stop Five – Senija
An Open-Air Museum
The artistic journey continues in Senija, where contemporary murals have transformed parts of the village into an open-air museum.
Celebrating local culture, cycling and community life, these large-scale artworks create a dialogue between tradition and modern identity, demonstrating once again that every village chooses its own way of telling its story.
More Than a Collection of Murals
As you travel through these villages, a pattern begins to emerge.
Tàrbena celebrates participation.
Kennie's House celebrates individual expression.
Benigembla preserves memory.
Xaló gives poetry a place in the streets.
Senija turns the village itself into a gallery.
Each village has found its own creative voice.
Together they form something far greater than an art trail.
They reveal a region where creativity remains part of everyday life.
Plan Your Mountain Art Trail Costa Blanca
The villages of the Marina Alta are close enough to explore over a day or a leisurely weekend.
Take time to stop for coffee in the village squares, wander slowly through quiet streets, discover unexpected murals and enjoy the local restaurants along the way.
If you visit during July, don't miss the annual Es Llavadors Art Exhibition in Tàrbena, where artists and first-time exhibitors celebrate creativity together beneath one simple motto:
Everyone Welcome.
Discover the Artistic Soul of the Marina Alta
The mountain villages of the Marina Alta are often celebrated for their scenery, almond blossom and walking trails.
Yet those who take time to look a little closer discover something equally remarkable.
Creativity lives here.
It appears on whitewashed walls, beneath your feet on painted streets, in poems, in old laundries, in community projects and sometimes in the extraordinary vision of a single individual.
The Mountain Art Trail invites you to slow down, explore these villages and experience a side of the Costa Blanca that many visitors never see.
Because the true beauty of these mountains lies not only in the landscape, but in the people who continue to shape it through imagination, generosity and creativity.
Comments