A video posted by the Facebook page "Holguín Memories" shows Calle Mariana de la Torre covered in trash, rubble, and debris accumulated on the sidewalk, in a new citizen complaint about the deterioration of what used to be one of the cleanest cities in Cuba.
The reel, tagged with the ironic hashtag #ciudaddelosparques, garnered over 51,000 views and generated 122 comments filled with indignation. "Holguín is a complete mess," wrote Cubans on social media in response to the images.
The video from Calle Mariana de la Torre is not an isolated case, but rather the most recent expression of a documented decline that has been occurring for months. In April, it was reported that garbage piles burn every night in several neighborhoods of Holguín, emitting toxic smoke resulting from the burning of plastics and organic waste due to irregular waste collection.
In May, the former Los Caballitos playground has ended up as an improvised dump after being demolished without any replacement plan. "Where is the government's effort?" asked a neighbor in the comments.
On May 30th, it was reported that the sewage system in Holguín has been overflowing for over a year in several areas of the city, with no solutions offered by the authorities.
On June 2, a viral video showed the Ateneo Deportivo de Holguín in complete abandonment: overgrown vegetation, fallen poles, missing fences, and pools filled with stagnant water. The images surpassed 40,000 views and sparked reactions among Cubans such as "it's painful to see it like this."
This Friday, the authorities evicted small businesses and street vendors from the "Los Chinos" market, a location that has been the subject of neighborhood complaints for years due to accumulated waste, sewage, and unpleasant odors.
The collapse of Holguín reflects a national crisis. Nationwide, garbage collection fell to 24.9 million cubic meters in 2023, equivalent to 92% of the volume from the previous year.
In Havana, the daily waste generation exceeds 30,000 cubic meters, while the city has only about 10,000 containers, many of which are in poor condition, and a vehicle fleet that operates at only 40% to 57% of what is needed.
Cubans on social media reject the official explanations that attribute the deterioration to the U.S. embargo and point directly to the institutional neglect of the dictatorship as the cause of the disaster.
The problem is not new either: since 2018, complaints about the dirtiness in the streets and lots of Holguín have been recorded, but by 2026 the situation has worsened to the point that the historic "City of Parks" has become a symbol of the collapse of communal services in Cuba.
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