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Six Catalan municipalities have committed 20,000 euros to install solar panels in healthcare centers in the municipality of Songo la Maya, located in the province of Santiago de Cuba, as part of an initiative led by the Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament along with the Casal d'Amistat amb Cuba de Badalona.
The municipalities that have formally joined are Manresa, Caldes de Montbui, Celrà, Mollet del Vallès, Sant Adrià de Besòs, and Vilafranca del Penedès.
The funds will be allocated to equip the Rural Hospital Center of Songo la Maya—with the only emergency services, laboratory, and dialysis in the municipality—along with nine family medical clinics and a maternal-childhouse.
The urgency of the project stems from an energy crisis that has caused power outages to exceed twenty hours per day in extensive areas of Cuba, with reports of over 50 consecutive hours without electricity or water in Songo la Maya during May 2026.
According to the campaign's advocates, the situation "especially affects the preservation of vaccines, sterilization processes, fetal monitoring, and emergency care equipment."
The Cuban electrical system has experienced at least seven total collapses in the last 18 months. The Electric Union projected in June generation deficits of around 2,045 MW during peak hours, against a demand of 3,080 MW, with only 1,035 MW available.
The Cuban regime itself admitted at the end of 2025 that blackouts would continue throughout 2026, acknowledging that the year would be "difficult" for the population.
The Catalan initiative is set within a broader context of international cooperation towards Cuba in the fields of energy and health care. Spain sent 18 photovoltaic systems to Cuban health centers in April 2026, and Japan announced in May a project worth 6.5 million dollars for Cuban hospitals that would benefit 2.6 million patients.
In May 2026, the Generalitat of Catalonia also approved humanitarian aid of 440,000 euros for Cuba, the first in 15 years, channeled through the World Food Programme and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation.
The cooperation of Catalan municipalism with Cuba through the Fons Català dates back to 2001. Between 2021 and 2025, the various campaigns of the organization mobilized over 105,000 euros from local administrations, entities, and individuals.
The Fons Català has made a call to other municipalities, regional councils, and Catalan provincial governments to join the initiative and increase the resources allocated to the project, which aims to ensure the functioning of essential medical services in the face of an energy crisis that shows no signs of abating.
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