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To prevent wild tags, Paris is funding artistic murals

undefined undefined 12 juillet 2025 undefined 17h20

The Editor

© Pierre Laborde / Shutterstock

Every year, the cleanup of tags on the walls and storefronts of the capital costs the city several million euros. In response, the City Hall of Paris has decided to take the bull by the horns! They are offering grants to businesses that have fallen victim to vandalism, allowing them to redecorate their storefronts however they please.

This summer, the Paris Council decided to tackle a big issue. Construction work everywhere? Nope. Bike lanes that are still too dangerous? No way. The lack of space in schools? Not that either. No, the Paris city hall has chosen to finally address the tag problem, which has become way too prevalent on the streets. Well, we’re not sure it’s really a priority, but why not.


A big problem

In 2024, the graffiti removal operations, including those on shop fronts, cost the City of Paris no less than 6.9 million euros. That’s an astronomical sum that the city hall is trying to reduce by all means. And for that, the Paris Council has decided to ...

to take the bull by the horns by suggesting to make money... by spending it!

Indeed, to reduce its costs in cleaning, the city is offering to subsidize merchants so they can cover their shutters with beautiful and elaborate artistic murals, in order to limit graffiti. To support this initiative, they are offering to finance this artistic project up to 80%, for a maximum amount of 1000 euros per project.


Every little saving counts

The goal behind this project is simple: beautify the space public, while discouraging troublemakers and their spray paint cans. But be careful, only the projects that meet the city's criteria can benefit from the grant. Similarly, you’ll need to prove that you have suffered or are at risk of suffering from spray paint attacks to be eligible.

A solution like any other that, if it works, will help to save some money on the cleaning team's expenses in the long run. Many business owners, however, remain quite skeptical and refuse to believe that a little paint is enough to send the street artists packing. But hey, if it can allow all Parisians to have free access to art, then we can only bow to that!