506 years of Havana, Between Suffering and Contrasts / 14ymedio

Havana turns 506 today. Founded on 16 November 1519, the city celebrates a birthday that does not hide its age: there are cities that age gracefully, and then there is Havana, marked by the wrinkles of neglect and the harm from continuing abandonment. / 14ymedio
1/12 The rains expose the cracks in an exhausted infrastructure. Streets that flood in minutes and entire neighbourhoods trapped under water are a reminder that urban drainage has been crying out for help for decades / 14ymedio
2/12 Getting around the city has become an odyssey. Fuel shortages and the collapse of public transport have emptied even the most well-known places. The iconic Calle 23, with its Coppelia ice cream parlour, is now quiet rather than than bustling. / 14ymedio
3/12 Long and frequent power cuts have shaped daily life in Havana. On the horizon, the column of smoke from the Turkish tankers anchored in the bay has become a permanent feature of the landscape, casting a shadow over the city. / 14ymedio
4/12 Since the protests of 11 July 2021, Havana has been under tighter surveillance. Arbitrary arrests and increased patrols are a reminder that the country’s largest city has also become subject to increased control. / 14ymedio
5/12 Begging is growing at an alarming rate. Tired faces, broken bodies and outstretched hands seeking coins reveal the depth of the economic and social deterioration in the capital. / 14ymedio
6/12 The decline in tourism shows very clearly. Streets that were once bustling now look dull, with businesses looking forward to a high season that will never come and a city that misses the sound of multiple languages. / 14ymedio
7/12 The dollar has reshaped Havana. In the last year, shops and markets that only accept foreign currency have proliferated, erecting an invisible wall between those who can buy and those who can only watch from the outside. / 14ymedio
8/12 The lack of cash and the banking collapse are causing long lines at ATMs every day. People wait for hours to get money that often doesn’t appear. / 14ymedio
9/12 Nothing, however, reflects the decay quite like the mountains of accumulated garbage. Entire street corners transformed into makeshift dumps speak volumes about a garbage collection service that ceased functioning long ago. / 14ymedio
10/12 Building collapses are now part of everyday urban life. Every week, a building gives way, a balcony falls, a family is displaced. The city ages through a combination of gravity and neglect. / 14ymedio
11/12 Housing insecurity is an open wound. Despite the mass exodus, thousands of families continue to live amidst leaky roofs, shoring up structures, and the constant fear that their roofs will give way. / 14ymedio
12/12 Havana is also this exhausted man, stopped on his bicycle. We don’t know if it’s work fatigue or the virus—the one that stiffens muscles and routines—that immobilizes him. But his posture perfectly encapsulates a city that reaches its 506th year exhausted, yet still clinging to the hope of moving forward. / 14ymedio

14ymedio, 17 November 2025

Translator: GH

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