Famous seawalls exist throughout the world. Marine Drive, one of the most famous portions of the Mumbai, India, skyline, abuts a famous seawall and promenade that keeps the ocean from spilling into the metropolis. The Malecón, or seawall, in Havana, Cuba, constitutes one of the city's most famous attractions and includes a promenade that passes many of the city's well-known landmarks. Other famous seawalls exist in Vancouver, Galveston Texas, and Horta, on the island of Faial in the Portuguese Azores. The seawall in Georgetown, Guyana covers the whole northern coastal region of Guyana and protects both rural and urban areas from aggressive erosion.
The seawall in Horta boasts famous graffiti. For decades, sailors passing through the port leave names, messages and images on the wall. According to tradition, sailors risk bad luck if they don't paint their boat's name on the seawall. Thus the wall is covered in hundreds, if not thousands, of images. The Malecón in Cuba is home to the city's famous lighthouse, and passes by the haunts of local fishermen, a number of well-known cafes and Havana's most beautiful architectural zones. The Galveston seawall is 15 feet tall, 10 miles long and 30 feet wide. The city built it in response to a devastating storm that killed 6000 people in 1900.
The Vancouver seawall runs 13.7 miles and constitutes one of the primary attractions of Stanley Park, English Bay, Kitsilano Beach and Coal Habour; it runs through all of these locations. The wall offers a broad, flat space in the city that residents use for biking, running, rollerblading, dog walking and strolling. The park, beach, harbor and bay through which the wall runs offers swimming, boating, fishing and sports. The areas of Mumbai and Havana around the seawalls in those cities include nightlife, restaurants and various tourist attractions.
The Malecón of Havana was built by American occupation forces and figures prominently into the day-to-day lives of the city's inhabitants and its tourist trade. Cuban author Reinaldo Arenas, who lived for some time in Havana, features the Malecón and the surrounding area prominently in his literature, particularly his autobiography "Before Night Falls."
The seawall in Horta was erected in 1876 as the port city gained prominence as a shipping center in the Azores. The city of Mumbai contains numerous seawalls that protect the metropolis and its citizens from destruction. Mumbai originally constituted seven islands, which land reclamation projects cohered into one large mass. The sea constantly threatens this area.
