A Cuban mother shared on TikTok the actual breakdown of what she spent to fulfill a promise to her daughter: to take her to a park during the school break, a luxury that few families on the island can afford regularly.
The user @sisi_aguilera posted the video on her TikTok account on April 20, 2026, and opened it with a phrase that captures the reality of millions of Cubans: "In Cuba, you can't go out for a stroll every week or even every month, but there are promises that simply cannot be broken."
The destination was El Loco Lugar, a private park with inflatables that the mother describes as "very well organized, thoughtfully designed, and with great service." What is revealing is her comment about the little girl: "she hasn't even been to a real park and this is the closest thing."
The expenses for the afternoon were as follows: a snack cost 2,600 Cuban pesos (CUP); a temporary tattoo of the Little Mermaid that the little one requested was 1,500 CUP; a toy that the grandmother bought was another 1,500 CUP. The stuffed animals in the park's store were priced from 500 to 10,000 CUP, and the more affordable toys were around 800 CUP.
"With these prices in Cuba, going out like this isn't something you can do often," admitted the mother, although she tried to put it into perspective: "we're talking about a luxury, not a necessity, and sometimes I understand it, other times not so much."
The scene takes on another dimension when contrasted with the real economy of the island. The official average salary in Cuba is just 6,930 CUP per month, less than 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate, while the basic basket exceeds 96,000 CUP, nearly 14 times that salary. What is spent in a single afternoon of leisure represents more than half of the monthly income of an average worker.
Child recreation has become one of the stark indicators of the crisis. State parks like Mambisito in Holguín or the Japanese Park in Camagüey are in ruins or completely closed. In their place, private spaces have proliferated that, although better maintained, impose fees that many families cannot afford: Jalisco Park in Havana charges 1,000 CUP per person just for entry, which totals 4,000 CUP for a family of four. A water park in Ciego de Ávila charges 500 CUP for just 30 minutes of children's swimming.
The video by @sisi_aguilera contributes to a growing trend on social media where Cuban mothers and fathers document the real cost of activities that would be routine in other countries. Their testimony is not a complaint, but rather a portrayal: that of a mother who saved to fulfill a dream for her daughter in a country where even going to a park requires planning, sacrifice, and luck.
"Small details that mean everything to her," the mother concluded in the video. "I was able to fulfill my promise; it took me a little while, but I did it. And seeing her happy, that is priceless."
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