The burning of the effigy once again brings together satire, catharsis, and tradition in neighborhoods of Sancti Spíritus
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, January 1, 2026 – As evening falls on December 31st, in some neighborhoods of Sancti Spíritus, it is already clear that the year won’t pass in silence. Among scraps of wood, old clothes, cardboard, and empty bottles, the effigies of the “old year” begin to take shape—those makeshift figures that traditionally serve to concentrate frustrations, jokes, and collective catharsis before being set ablaze. There is no manual or single design: all it takes is a human-shaped body and the certainty that, when it burns, something symbolic will also go with the flames
In one of the doorways of the neighborhood, a mannequin stands as if guarding the street. It wears worn boots, blue pants, and—a far from innocent detail—a white sweater with the phrase “I Love This Island” printed next to a Cuban flag. The irony is obvious. In a country marked by mass exodus and social weariness, that message seems less like a slogan and more like an open question. “We made it like that on purpose,” a neighbor confesses as he adjusts the wire around its neck. “Loving the country doesn’t mean you don’t want to burn away all the bad things that happened,” he clarifies, listing everything from the long blackouts of 2025 to the chikungunya that left him with a sore knee.
A few meters further on, two nearly identical mannequins share the sidewalk. Both have exaggeratedly inflated bellies, short arms, and a rigid posture reminiscent of government officials: all belly, no brains. No explanatory sign is needed. Passersby look at them, smile, and whisper. Political satire finds a rudimentary but effective outlet here, protected by the alibi of tradition.
The burning of the effigy of the old year is not exclusive to Sancti Spíritus or Cuba, but on the island it has taken on a very particular character. Here it is mixed with local humor and the need for catharsis. Burning the effigy is a way of saying goodbye to the bad: the shortages, the lines, the broken promises, the exorbitant prices, and also the accumulated fears.
As night falls, when the street darkens and someone lights a match, the atmosphere changes. The fire catches quickly. Flames devour the clothes, the wood crackles, and the effigy, seated in an old metal chair, is enveloped in an orange light that illuminates the nearby facades. There is applause, nervous laughter, and the occasional sarcastic comment. It’s not a solemn bonfire; it’s more of a domestic ritual, improvised, but full of meaning.
While the effigy burns, in other parts of Cuba others perform their own rituals. At midnight, many throw buckets of water from their front doors to “wash away the bad.” Others, more optimistic or desperate, walk around the block with an empty suitcase, convinced that this will attract a trip in the coming year. Every gesture, however small it may seem, is a gamble on hope.
When only ashes and a lingering smell of burnt fabric remain, the street regains its calm. The effigy is gone, but the gesture remains. In Sancti Spíritus, as in so many places across the country, burning the effigy of the old year doesn’t change reality overnight, but it allows for something equally necessary: to say, without speeches or slogans, that there was too much weight to carry and that at least tonight, the decision was made to release it into the fire.
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