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Casino Español de La Habana: Another jewel lost to neglect

The former Spanish Casino of Havana is another one of the emblematic places that the regime has not been able to rescue.


The former Casino Español de La Habana, which later became the Círculo Social Obrero José Ramón Rodríguez in the municipality of Playa, is another one of the many victims of neglect and disregard by the Cuban regime.

A young woman who responds on Facebook to the name Camila Carballo shared a video last Saturday showing the ruinous state in which the installation is.

As can be seen in the short clip, some parts of what should have been a beautiful installation already show exposed brick, and in others, even the steel beams of the building can be seen.

However, there is also no doubt about its magnificent and privileged location facing the sea, which once made it a beautiful and highly popular place, although now there is not a shadow left of that splendor.

In 2023, following the publication of images of the site on social media, internet users called for these facilities to be handed over to the private sector, arguing that it would be able to rescue the buildings from oblivion.

Facebook screenshot/Photos of Havana

Among the people who commented on the post, there was someone who claimed to have visited the spa before 1959, during the place's heyday.

The building in its years of splendor (Source: Mapio)

It was not, as mentioned above, one of the so-called 'High Life' clubs, but I do remember it was very well set in the Cuban-Iberian style. Its lockers, on the upper floor, were very well taken care of by uniformed security guards and very clean," recounted a person.

Old picture of the Spanish Casino in Havana (Source: Mapio)

Miramar, within the municipality of Playa, was one of the main residential areas of Havana. Before 1959, it was an area chosen for the opening of several resorts that operated as yacht clubs and social centers for the recreation of wealthy families and the middle class.

Swimming area in the sea (Source: Mapio)

After January 1959, with Fidel Castro in power, all those recreational centers were nationalized, and many became the so-called Workers' Social Circles. Most of them were located in the coastal strip of western Havana, from the Torreón de La Chorrera to Jaimanitas in the municipality of Playa.

In addition to José Ramón Rodríguez (Casino Español de La Habana), others include Félix Elmuza (Club Náutico), Julio Antonio Mella (Havana Yatch Club), and Braulio Coroneaux (La Concha).

Due to their proximity to the coast, the deterioration of most of these facilities accelerates exponentially, also because, in recent decades, the Cuban government has not implemented adequate conservation measures for them.

This site is added to the long list of emblematic places in Cuba that are being dragged into disappearance because of a regime that is unable to keep them standing amid the current economic crisis.

In the municipality of Playa is the popular pizzeria Lisboa, better known as Pizzeria de La Copa, another affected place that is slowly fading away.

The old nightclub of the Comodoro Hotel shares a similar fate, currently serving as a rubble dump for people who leave their garbage there.

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