A video posted on Facebook by Rockie Perrie Guau shows the current state of a busy area in the city of Cárdenas, Matanzas, where the historic Café Plaza Malacoff used to operate, and it has sparked a wave of sorrow and nostalgia among Cubans both on the island and abroad.
The images of urban decay in Cárdenas reveal two and three-story buildings with peeling paint, damaged walls, pavement with deep cracks, potholes, and exposed dirt, in addition to an accumulation of debris and garbage at a busy intersection.
The street appears almost empty, with barely a freight cart and two or three people in the background, an image reminiscent of a ghost town.
The video accumulated over 17,000 views and 167 comments within a few hours, with reactions that blend sadness over abandonment and memories of better times.
"In that place, there used to be a Caracol store. I loved going there to shop," wrote one user. Another person fondly recalled the location: "They sold delicious bread and pizza dough there. I'm not originally from Cárdenas, but it's like my second home. Thank you for everything, Cárdenas, beautiful city, wonderful people."
A user expressed their sorrow with hope: "What a sadness, I used to go with my dad, uncle, and cousin every time I went to Cuba, and we always had a great time drinking some beers. It will be better very soon."
The most shared sentiment was summed up by this comment: "Cárdenas is destroyed; only the memory of a prosperous and shining city remains, but someday from its ashes it will be reborn."
The deterioration depicted in the images is not an isolated phenomenon nor is it solely related to the neglect of the urban landscape. People are experiencing an increase in poverty, both socially and individually.
Recently, it was observed how the retirees in Cárdenas are standing in long lines at the banks to cash pensions of only 4,000 Cuban pesos, about nine dollars, as documented by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights in November 2025.
That same organization estimates that 89% of the Cuban population lives in extreme poverty, with older adults being the most affected.
The province of Matanzas, where Cárdenas is located, reported in December 2025 power outages of up to 30 continuous hours, with families receiving only one or two hours of electricity per day.
The pattern of abandonment is repeating itself in other Cuban cities. A historical gem turned into ruins was documented in April of this year in Holguín, where the 19th-century old railway station has become a dump for trash and debris.
Other iconic sites are facing the same fate: an abandoned place in Boca Ciega was documented in June 2025 as another example of the urban decay that continues unabated across the island.
Cárdenas, known as the "Flag City" because on May 19, 1850, General Narciso López raised the Cuban flag with the lone star there for the first time, was also a pioneer in public electric lighting in Cuba, inaugurated in 1889.
Today, that city that marked so many first moments in Cuban history appears in the images of Rockie Perrie Guau as a silent testimony to the abandonment to which the dictatorship has condemned its own cities.
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