Avenida del Mar

The pedestrianised boulevard connecting the old town to the seafront, lined with ten bronze sculptures by Salvador Dalí. The promenade runs for about 400 metres between the Plaza de los Naranjos and the Paseo Marítimo, shaded by palm trees and flanked by café terraces. The Dalí sculptures — surrealist figures in his characteristic style — are scattered along the route.

It's a short walk but a pleasant one, particularly in the evening when the old-town crowds thin and the lights come on along the seafront. The western end opens onto the Paseo Marítimo, where you can turn left toward the beach or right toward the fishing harbour and lighthouse.

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A story
The ten bronze sculptures by Salvador Dalí on the Avenida del Mar were installed in 1992 and caused considerable local controversy — Marbella's conservative Andalusian establishment was not sure it wanted surrealist art on its main promenade. The sculptures were a gift from the estate of Dalí, brokered by the then-mayor Jesús Gil, a figure more controversial than the sculptures themselves. Gil, later convicted of fraud and misappropriation of public funds, was also responsible for much of Marbella's 1990s building boom.

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