The Cuban actress Darlyn Morales, residing in Spain, posted an Instagram reel where she humorously explains which Cuban customs seem strange or completely useless in everyday Spanish life, beginning with the classic shout, "¡Chofe, parada!" that any Cuban calls out to the driver of a bus.
"Things that are normal in Cuba, but here in Spain are very rare, in other words, they just don’t happen. This is going to be the first part because I feel like there’s quite a lot, there’s quite a lot," Darlyn warns at the beginning of the video.
The central example of the reel is public transport. In Cuba, when a passenger wants to get off at the next stop, it's common to shout to the driver: "Chofe, parada!" In Spain, that shout is of no use.
"You’re on a bus and you're getting off at the next stop. In Cuba, what you’re going to do is shout, 'My life!' Typical, 'Woooonderful stop!'” Darlyn recreates with her characteristic tone.
The actress explains that Spanish buses are equipped with buttons located throughout the vehicle for passengers to request stops from the driver: "Not here, my love, don't go shouting like I've seen some people do. Here, there are little buttons, several little buttons throughout the bus where you can press them, and the driver will know to make the requested stop."
The key detail, according to Darlyn, is that if there’s no one waiting at the stop and the passenger doesn't press the button, the driver simply won't stop: "If there's nobody at the next stop and you don’t press that little button, they won’t stop for anything in the world, so it's better not to shout because they won't stop anyway, just press the button. More than one of us has missed the stop, right?".
Darlyn Morales arrived in Spain in October 2022 with a student visa to train in acting at the Madrid academy Central de Cine. Since then, she has become one of the most recognized voices of the Cuban diaspora on social media, combining her acting career with humorous content about the cultural clashes of living outside Cuba.
It is not the first time the actress has addressed this type of contrast. In April, she posted a reel about Cuban cleaning habits adapted to life in Spain, and in January, she shared the reactions of several Cuban women seeing snow for the first time in Spain.
The content of Darlyn falls within a well-established trend among Cubans living in Spain who share their adaptation experiences on social media: the punctuality of transportation, stable access to electricity and internet, late dinner times, or the custom of splitting the bill at restaurants. In May, another Cuban described Spanish customs she still finds difficult to adapt to, and that same month a young Cuban shared his own differences between the two countries.
Darlyn has already hinted that this video is just the beginning: "This is going to be the first part because I feel there is a lot," making it clear that the list of Cuban customs that don't work in Spain has much more material to explore.
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