What it is
The Avenida del Mar is a short pedestrian avenue running from the Alameda down to the seafront, paved in marble and lined with bronze sculptures by Salvador Dalí.
Among them are Perseus, Mercury, a horse and rider stumbling, a man on a dolphin, a cosmic elephant on impossibly long legs, Trajan on horseback, a nude woman climbing a stair, and Gala at the window — Gala being Dalí's wife.
Seeing it
⭐ This is outdoor public art. There is nothing to book and nothing to queue for; you walk down it, and it takes minutes.
The light is best early or at dusk, when the bronzes throw long shadows on the marble and the avenue is not full of people heading for the beach.
Getting it right
Walk it downhill, from the Alameda toward the sea, so the Mediterranean opens up at the end.
⚠️ The marble is slippery when wet and very bright at midday.
Ten bronzes
The avenue is part of the historic extension of the town between the old walled center and the sea, and it was laid out as a landscaped walk with fountains, joining the old town to the beach. Spanish Wikipedia counts ten sculptures by Salvador Dalí along it. The beaches at its foot are La Venus and La Fontanilla, the most central in Marbella and among the busiest, and turning west along the promenade takes you past the Marbella lighthouse to the Parque de la Constitución.
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