Havana (AP communication) – It is impossible to miss this. The highest building in Havana, a huge rectangular lump made of concrete and glass, dominates the city’s Skyline, stands at 150 meters (490 feet) in a colonial era, and is 542 luxurious. You can see the magnificent views of guest rooms, towns and sea.
Selection La Havana Hotel, operated by Spanish chain stores, has not yet opened, but has already been criticized -it is not just the abnormal shape. The Cubans are doubtful that the government has assigned millions of dollars to luxury sightseeing while the island is suitable for sightseeing. Faced a serious economic crisis And the number of tourists is drastically reduced to a historical lowest level.
A 26 -year -old craftsman Suzel Borgez looked up at the building, lamenting, saying, “All money may have been used for the construction of hospitals and schools.” position.
This new hotel, located near the legendary Havana Libre Hotel and the iconic Coppelia ice cream parlor, is a part of the government plan to build 12 luxury facilities in Havana, and this plan is a new colona. Even under the pandemic of viral infections, it was not canceled while maintaining the survival of existing luxury hotels. The hotel was almost vacant.
For decades, tourism has led the Cuban economy and has generated up to $ 3 billion of income a year. However, in December, Cuban authorities announced that only 2.2 million tourists visited the island in 2024, decreasing by about 200,000 from 2023, significantly lower than 4.2 million tourists visited in 2019. did.
The government states that the decrease in tourists is due to “perfect storms” such as lack of supply. Serious energy crisis that causes large power outages And there is a shortage of human resources due to immigrants and low wages. In addition, the island is working on the following issues: Surse of US sanctionsThis includes other measures that are particularly intended to restrict US people’s travel restrictions, ban cruise ships, and suppress the growth of the Cuban tourism industry.
“The tourism is gone,” said Julio Garcia Campos, a shiny 1951 -type Pontiac driver with an original engine. “The tourists were in line to get on this!” He said, remembering the old days when the island was crowded with American and European travelers. Release sanctions by President Barak Obama (then)。
The new selection La Havana, like all the other hotels in Cuba, is operated under GAESA, a complex company belonging to the Revolutionary Army, but has been often criticized by the opaque of its business. 。 Because it is a business operated by the army, the company has been exempted from the Audit Bureau, and has not disclosed the investment in 40 -story hotels.
Cuba’s economist Pedro Mongreal has pointed out the “discomfort” of investing capital in the tourist sector, despite the fact that it is hardly assigned to strategic fields such as agriculture.
Last year, Montreal pointed out on social media that “agricultural investment is much behind tourist investment, and it is a problem that it is still one -11th.”
The architects also pointed out the destructive appearance in the environment, too high in violation of urban regulations, and high glass windows that are not suitable for tropical climate, and did not express much enthusiasm for new hotels.
According to architect and university professor Abel Tablada, “This building is a perfect example of what should not be done from the viewpoint of biological climate design,” said Cuba. The fund is assigned to a building that does not value the city.
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