SPANNING more than 13 kilometres, along the coast between the San Antón castle and O Portiño, this seafront promenade is a pleasant walkway along the length of the city, combining sea, nature and historic landmarks such as the marina, San Amaro beach, the Tower of Hercules, Riazor beach, Orzán beach and Matadero beach, to name just a few.

It’s A Coruña in Galicia that holds the record for having the longest seafront promenade not only in Spain, but also Europe.

The starting point is the castle of San Antón, now the Historical Archaeological Museum.

The castle, declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1949, was built in the 16th century and made up a strong defensive fortress together with the castles of Santa Cruz and San Diego.

Another of the favourite spots for history-lovers on A Coruña’s seafront promenade is the Tower of Hercules. The tower is the oldest functioning Roman lighthouse in the world and dates from the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 27 June 2009.

The iconic promenade also has a special spot for surfers, with a ‘Surfers’ Fountain’, located between Matadero beach and Orzán.

The surfers’ fountain statue was made in 1992 by the Galician sculpture Jose Castiñeiras and represents a couple of surfers on the city’s beaches at sunset, with the rays of sunlight and the fictitious waves.

Another highly visible landmark on the promenade is The Millennium Obelisk, at almost 50 metres high it can be seen from many different parts of the city and consists of 174 pieces of rock crystal, on three sides. On its surface are also drawings depicting scenes from the history of the city, like the figure of King Alfonso IX (who named A Coruña an official city in 1208) and the Battle of Coruña.

At the end of the longest promenade in Europe is a sculpture by Francisco Pazos Martínez known as Fiestra Aberta ó Mar (Window open to the sea). This sculpture is 4.5 meters in length by 2.5 meters in width, composed by twelve granite pieces united with stainless steel and resins and represents an open window from where to contemplate the stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and is the last stop on this incredible walkway.

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