Grafiti La Cocollona

Updated April 16, 2024

La Cocollona by Erica Il cane – Street Art Cities

## Grafiti La Cocollona (Girona): How to Find It + What You’re Actually Looking At

Girona has plenty of “checklist” sights, but Grafiti La Cocollona is the kind of stop that rewards curiosity. It’s a large street-art mural on a building façade at:

– Address: Carrer Bonastruc de Porta, 7 (often listed as 7Acc), 17001 Girona, Spain
– Coordinates: 41.9859344, 2.8207555
– What it depicts: The Cocollona, a folkloric creature associated with Girona—commonly described as a crocodile-like figure with butterfly wings.

This guide focuses on what you can confidently plan around: how to visit, what details to notice, and how to fit the mural into a smarter Girona walk without padding your day with detours.

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## What is “La Cocollona” in Girona?

The Cocollona is a folkloric creature connected to Girona. A widely repeated modern description (and the one reflected in the mural’s imagery) frames it as a hybrid creature—crocodile + butterfly-wing motif—and it’s treated as a recognizable symbol in Girona’s local storytelling.

If you’ve seen references to the Onyar River, that’s not random: the Cocollona is often discussed in the context of Girona’s river/old-city setting. (Some retellings add moral or religious framing; these vary by source, so treat them as interpretations, not fixed “history.”)

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## The mural: who painted it, and when?

Most street-art directories and write-ups attribute the mural to Erica Il Cane. Art Cities

On the date, sources aren’t perfectly consistent:
– Street-art listings describe it as created for a “Milestone Project” and sometimes give 2012. Art Cities
– Other materials mention a 2013 festival/poster context.

Practical takeaway: you don’t need the exact year to enjoy it, but if you’re writing captions or doing research, cite the source you’re using and avoid stating a single definitive year unless you verify it from an authoritative festival/municipal record.

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## How to visit (without wasting time)

### What to expect on arrival
This is street-facing public art on a building exterior—so you’re viewing it from the street. Listings treat it as an attraction with an address rather than a ticketed venue.

### Best time to go (for photos you won’t hate later)
Because it’s on a large façade, what matters most is light angle and contrast—not “opening hours.” If you want clean shots:
– Prioritize even light (thin cloud cover is often better than harsh sun).
– Bring a wide lens (or use your phone’s 0.5×/wide camera) to avoid extreme distortion.
– Take one photo that includes surrounding architecture—it anchors the mural in Girona, not just “a random wall.”

(I’m intentionally not claiming which direction the wall faces; that changes how you plan sunrise/sunset. Check the building orientation in your map app before you go.)

### Accessibility notes
You’re on city streets near the historic center. Expect typical old-town conditions—uneven paving, narrow sidewalks, occasional steps—depending on your approach route. (Verify your exact route if you need step-free access.)

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## What to look for: details most people walk past

Even if you only spend 5–10 minutes here, you’ll get more out of it if you look with intent:

– The wings: The butterfly-wing element isn’t decorative fluff—it’s core to the creature’s modern description and why the mural reads as “myth” rather than “monster.” Commons
– Scale cues: Windows and building lines cut through the painted body. That interplay is part of what makes large-format murals feel “site-specific” rather than pasted-on.
– Texture cues: Many photos show a cracked/segmented pattern across the creature’s body. That visual texture is a big reason it photographs well even in flat light (it holds detail).

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## How to pair it with the rest of Girona

If you’re building a Girona day that’s not just cathedral → bridges → lunch → leave, street art works best as a connector between neighborhoods.

### Pair it with Girona’s old-town walk
Girona’s historic core (“Barri Vell”) and the area around the Onyar River are frequently where visitors naturally wander, and the Cocollona is often framed as part of Girona’s local myth landscape rather than a standalone “gallery piece.”

### Add a history anchor nearby
Girona is also known for El Call, the historic Jewish Quarter, often described as one of the city’s emblematic areas. Hit
Even if you’re primarily doing street art, dropping one genuine history stop into your walk makes the day feel Girona-specific rather than “anywhere in Spain.”

(I’m not claiming the mural is “in” El Call—only that Girona’s old-town routes commonly overlap and the Jewish Quarter is a high-value nearby anchor.)

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## Practical tips (that actually help)

– Safety: Treat it like any city stop—keep your phone secure, especially when you’re stepping backward for a wider shot.
– Crowds: You’re less likely to run into organized tour groups here than at the cathedral steps, but you can still get foot traffic depending on the season.
– Respect the space: This is public-facing art on someone’s building. Keep noise low, don’t block entrances, and don’t climb or touch the wall for “texture shots.”

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## Quick facts for your notes
– Name: Grafiti La Cocollona
– Location: Carrer Bonastruc de Porta, 7 (7Acc), 17001 Girona, Spain
– Coordinates: 41.9859344, 2.8207555
– Subject: Cocollona, folkloric creature from Girona
– Artist attribution (commonly listed): Erica Il Cane on the Streets

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## Two contextual internal links (editor-ready)
Because I can’t verify your existing RealJourneyTravels.com URLs from here, use these as intent-based internal links (swap in your actual slugs):

– Link 1 (city context): Girona travel guide / things to do in Girona
– Suggested anchor: “more things to do in Girona”
– Link 2 (history context): Girona Old Town / Jewish Quarter (El Call) walking route Jewish Heritage
– Suggested anchor: “Girona’s Jewish Quarter (El Call)”

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## Data freshness + what to double-check
– Ratings and “opening hours” listings for street art are often scraped or user-generated and can change quickly. One directory-style listing even recommends contacting the attraction to confirm hours, which is a hint that these fields may be unreliable for a public mural.
– Before publishing, validate the pin location and any “hours” text against your preferred map source on the day you update the article.

If you want, paste your two target internal URLs (or the titles of the two pages you want to link to) and I’ll drop them into the copy with clean anchors and zero awkward phrasing.

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