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Viñales, declared a Cultural Landscape of Humanity by UNESCO, has been without regular potable water service for more than six months, experiencing power outages of up to 30 hours, lacking transportation, mobile signal, and internet, according to testimonies from residents who report the collapse of the town.
The most recent episode summarizes the accumulated desperation: the head of the water supply announced that "everything was ready" to restore the service as soon as electricity arrived, the town was filled with hope, many stayed awake all night, and 24 hours after the electricity arrived it was discovered that the main motor was broken.
"How can everything be ready if the main engine wasn't working? Who checked it? Who responded? Who took responsibility?" asks one of the testimonies sent to this outlet.
The supply source for Viñales is the El Salto dam, whose floating pumping station has required emergency work due to the low levels of the reservoir.
According to statements from the director of the Business Unit of "Aqueduct and Sewer" in Viñales, Amado Pita González, the issue with the water supply source has been resolved and the distribution of potable water service has been restored in the main town.
However, residents report that the interruptions continue and that the authorities' promises are repeatedly made without being fulfilled.
The governor of Pinar del Río, the mayor of Viñales, and the representative of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources personally supervised the progress of the work on the dam at night, highlighting the seriousness of the situation. However, residents point out that this presence has not translated into concrete solutions.
The water crisis is not an isolated event. Cuba recorded its fifth driest year since 1901 in 2025, and between November 2025 and January 2026, 30% of the territory experienced meteorological drought, with Pinar del Río being one of the most affected provinces.
The drought is compounded by deteriorating infrastructure: in April 2025, farmers were illegally tapping into the main pipelines that supply water to Pinar del Río, Consolación del Sur, and Viñales to irrigate crops, exacerbating the shortages.
Families that can pay up to 4,000 pesos for a private water truck, a price described as unaffordable for retirees and low-income workers.
The impact on the economic fabric of the town is devastating. Ninety percent of the houses in Viñales were converted into accommodations for tourists during the prosperous years, and restaurants featuring Creole, Mediterranean, and Italian cuisine flourished.
Today, businesses are shutting down and entrepreneurs are selling and emigrating: an old nightclub has been transformed into a mini-market, and a Mediterranean restaurant renowned for its artisanal cheeses is now selling probiotic yogurt because producing cheese would triple the costs.
The lack of water is compounded by a shortage of fuel, which has eliminated taxis and buses and reduced transportation to electric tricycles, while the 25 km mountain road that connects Viñales with Pinar del Río is plagued with potholes, overgrown vegetation, and impassable sections.
"Viñales is dying before our eyes. It dies every day and nothing happens. It dies and we don't see any strategy being implemented to prevent the collapse of what could be one of our economic lungs," warns one of the testimonies received.
In April 2026, another town in Pinar del Río had been without regular water service for more than two years, illustrating that the crisis in Viñales is not an exception but part of a provincial collapse that the regime has neither managed to nor appears willing to reverse.
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