Things to do nearEspañola Way

Española Way was developed in 1925 by N.B.T. Roney, who envisioned a Mediterranean-style artists colony modeled on the villages of southern Spain and Italy. The block-long stretch of Spanish Revival buildings, with their arcaded ground floors, clay-tile roofs, and decorative plasterwork, was unlike anything else in Miami Beach at the time. Over the decades it attracted painters, musicians, and writers, and the street reportedly served as a backdrop for Al Capone-era gambling operations before reinventing itself as a cultural enclave.

Today the street functions as a pedestrian promenade anchored by restaurants, galleries, and boutiques. Weekend afternoons bring an outdoor art market where local painters and craftspeople set up beneath the arched colonnades. The architecture itself is the main attraction, and a slow walk from one end to the other rewards visitors with layers of ornamental detail at every turn.

Dining on Española Way tends toward Spanish and Latin cuisines, with tapas bars and mojito-focused cocktail lounges setting an appropriately Iberian mood. The food tours that wind through this part of South Beach often stop here, making it a natural introduction to the neighborhood's culinary character. Just a short walk away, the Lincoln Road Shopping District extends the afternoon with more shops and open-air cafes. Española Way remains one of the most photogenic and historically layered streets in all of Miami Beach, well worth an unhurried visit.