The Spanish singer Pastora Soler recently explained the origin of the viral photo that showed her sharing a table and lobsters with Mariela Castro, daughter of Raúl Castro, during her visit to Cuba in 2018.
The singer was invited to the island to participate in the Days Against Gender Violence and the 30th anniversary of CENESEX - the National Center for Sex Education led by Mariela herself - at a time when Cuba was debating the inclusion of same-sex marriage in its new Constitution.
Pastora Soler shares that she performed without payment, motivated by her connection to the Cuban LGTBI community, which has been using her songs in their drag venues for some time.
However, what he couldn't have imagined is how expensive the adventure would turn out to be.
“I was set up,” stated in an interview for the Spanish Television program "El Perro Andaluz" the Sevillian artist, who not only spoke about the incident itself but also reflected on the consequences that image had for her career and emotional well-being.
“I am a tourist, I come here, they are treating me like royalty because I have come to be part of something without getting paid,” she stated on the program, reminiscing about how the food she experienced eventually became a problem for her.
The episode that changed everything took place during a lunch held in a luxurious penthouse overlooking the Havana waterfront, which operated as a private restaurant.
There, alongside other personalities - including the then-transsexual deputy of the PSOE, Carla Antonelli - Mariela Castro appeared and they were served lobster.
Pastora Soler acknowledged her lack of knowledge about the symbolic significance of that seafood in Cuba.
“I am placed at that meal next to Mariela Castro, being served lobster, not knowing that lobster was such a controversial thing, that Cubans are prohibited from eating lobster,” he recounted.
One of the diners photographed the scene, and the image quickly spread on social media.
“I was set up because I actually knew very well what I had to do,” stated the singer, who was scheduled to cross into Miami just two days later to perform a concert on December 1, 2018, as part of her La Calma tour.
However, after the photo was shared, the Miami concert was canceled by the production team due to pressure from the Cuban community in that city.
The personal consequences were equally severe.
“I was traumatized because I think it’s the first time in my life that I’ve had haters... I had to take myself off social media, I had to disable private messages on Facebook because they were calling me all sorts of names,” she confessed on the show.
“Communist, red, bitch, in other words, everything... I’ve been called everything because of that,” she detailed.
“You know, I got that out of my head, even though I still get messages telling me all sorts of things,” she recounted, specifying that, many years later, she still bears the consequences of that photo.
In "El Perro Andaluz," the artist closed the episode with a statement that sparked laughter in the studio:
"And I don’t even like lobster. [...] I prefer shrimp, prawns, and crayfish. [...] I don’t think I even ate lobster that day."
The first clarification dates back to 2018
On December 2, 2018, Pastora Soler published a statement on Facebook in which she clarified her position.
"I want to make it very clear that my intervention in Cuba was solely motivated by a charitable and selfless action, with the only aim of offering my music in support of a group that has always been mistreated," he said at that time.
In that text, she also clarified that it was not her who canceled the Miami concert, but the promoter, and she left the door open to return
"I have never canceled the concert in Miami, and I will be delighted, now more than ever, to return to that audience that has always shown me so much love."
However, such a return has not materialized. Nearly eight years after the incident, Pastora Soler has not returned to Miami.
It is well known that lobster is a symbol of inequality in Cuba: inaccessible to the vast majority of Cubans, while the political elite consumes it without any hesitation.
The image of Raúl Castro's daughter enjoying that delicacy alongside a Spanish artist invited by the regime was perceived then—and even more so today—as a display of privilege that starkly contrasts with the chronic scarcity faced by the Cuban people.
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