BOGOTA, Colombia - This tough city of 7.6 million rarely gets respect. It often ranks near the bottom in surveys of cities that are pleasant to live in. People call it one of the ugliest capitals in the Western world.

However, in recent years, it has been getting an accidental makeover. Weak laws and blank walls have made it a haven for graffiti artists.

Now, this capital city seems to be in bloom. Everything from high-art to hurried scrawls spring from overpasses, storefronts and sidewalks. The splash of color is earning the city praise in the art world. Still, some here wonder about the line between art and vandalism.

The city was already becoming a hotbed for graffiti. Then last year, the mayor rolled out a law to regulate the practice. Now, graffiti is allowed everywhere except landmarks, government buildings and public infrastructure, like bridges. Artists need permission before tagging their names on private property. But while fines and punishments do exist, some say the new rules have given graffiti the stamp of approval.

El Pez's "Happy Style"

"I can walk out onto the freeway right now and start painting and the police will just drive by and not say a thing," said El Pez, 37, an artist from Barcelona, Spain.

El Pez moved to Bogota six years ago, in part attracted by the anything goes attitude. His work, which has been dubbed "happy style," often depicts wide-eyed, grinning animals. It's won him a global following; for the last three years, he's exhibited at the Art Basel festival in Miami.

"Five years ago, there wasn't a lot going on here," he said. "Now, there's a lot of talent and a lot of freedom to communicate."

In Bogota, graffiti artists can work in daylight and often without police harassment. This allows them the time to create large mural paintings with lots of detail, said Christian Petersen. He's an Australian artist who leads tours of the city's street art.

The situation here "encourages a lot of good-quality work," he said. "In places where it's highly illegal, it encourages more tagging and bombing and stuff the general public dislikes and defines as vandalism."

Mayor Gustavo Petro says graffiti is a way to overcome the gap between rich and poor. He's even offered money to artists to paint in neglected areas and public markets.

"Art is also for the workers and the humble," he said. "It's a way to overcome our problems by looking at these colors and beauty."

Street Art Exhibition?

But some purists worry that the city is getting too cozy with the graffiteros.

"Street art is like a virus that expands, which is good," said Maria Elvira Ardila, a curator at Bogota's Museum of Modern Art. But when acts of street art are sponsored by the government "they lose their character."

The museum has debated having a show featuring local street artists. But, Ardila said to put them in a museum setting would destroy their position of being outsiders.

For others, the debate is more practical.

Milena Sandrea runs an auto repair shop. The building's high white walls make a tempting target. It's covered in graffiti tags and signatures.

"We used to paint every six months but the next day - or two at the most - it would be covered in graffiti again," she said. "We've given up."

Sandrea said the city's relaxed attitude toward graffiti may be to blame.

Stinkfish On Street Art

A turning point for the city came in 2011, when police gunned down Felipe Diego Becerra, a 16-year-old graffiti artist painting on a bridge. The officer claimed he mistook Becerra's spray-paint can for a gun. Witnesses, however, say the teenager was shot in the back. The case is ongoing. But after that, police have given graffiti artists more freedom.

Those who welcome "acceptable" street art, like murals, but dismiss tagging as vandalism don't understand the art form, said Stinkfish, 33. He's one of Colombia's best-known street artists.

Stinkfish paints detailed portraits that have earned him invites to art festivals around the world. But he's also covered the city with his signature and his tag in areas that are illegal.

"The streets should be a space for free communication, but for a long time it has belonged to corporations, companies, the church, people with money," he said. "For it to be free, you have to paint what you want where you want - whether that's your name, a mural or a face."