The lichens due to their symbiotic nature have unique characteristics that confer them a key role as bioindicators of the environmental contamination. Many investigations have been done using epiphytic lichens as bioindicators, but only a few of these studies have used epilithic-crustose lichens. Three different epilithic-crustose lichens species: Candelariella sp., Lecanora sp. and Caloplaca sp. were studied as bioindicators of V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb, Bi and U trace elements. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry routine procedure is used to determining these element concentrations. Two sites were selected for lichens sampling according to environmental contamination. The lichens were collected on the facade of the Santos Juanes church in an urban area of Valencia; and on the rural area of Albarracin. The main aim of this work is showing the efficacy of the epilithic-crustose lichens as bioindicators of the air pollution. This study shows that the city of Valencia, compared with the rural area has high levels of Cu and Pb as detected using lichens as bioindicators. Therefore on the basis of these results, it can be hypothesized that Candelariella sp., Lecanora sp. and Caloplaca sp. are good accumulators of air borne heavy metals. Keywords Lichens * Bioindicators * Heavy metals * Air pollution