The sailboat Astral, from the Spanish NGO Open Arms, docked on Sunday at the port of Havana after completing a journey of over two months from Barcelona, transporting seven tons of humanitarian aid destined for a pediatric hospital in the Cuban capital, reported AP.
The vessel departed from Barcelona on May 11 and made stops in Valencia, Málaga, Cádiz, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria before crossing the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea, covering approximately 6,200 nautical miles on its route to Cuba.
The shipment includes photovoltaic solar panels, batteries, medications, and medical supplies, all intended for the Intensive Care Unit, intermediate care, and the clinical laboratory of the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital in Havana.
The mission, called "Heading to Cuba," is led by Óscar Camps, founder of Open Arms, who traveled aboard throughout the journey, and by Miguel Urbán, co-founder of the Podemos party and former member of the European Parliament, who headed a political delegation that traveled by air.
Upon his arrival, Camps referred to the oil sanctions imposed by the United States: "This is criminal, that the functioning of a hospital can be interrupted by a political decision."
The MEP Ana Miranda Paz, from BNG and a member of the political delegation, stated that the goal was "to convey to the Cuban people our support for the situation they are experiencing."
The Astral was welcomed at the port by Cuban party and government officials, as well as by members of the delegation that were already in Havana.
The planned agenda includes meetings with the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, with authorities from the National Assembly, and with the singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez.
According to a publication from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the fundraising campaign managed to gather over 17,000 euros, which will be entirely allocated to the pediatric hospital, with support from more than 150 Spanish political, social, and trade union organizations, including EH Bildu, Sumar, Esquerra Republicana, Compromís, and Ecologistas en Acción.
This mission adds to other international leftist flotillas that have visited the Island, starting in March with the "Nuestra América" flotilla - which arrived with about 50 tons of aid and between 500 and 650 activists - and continued in April with the "Primero de Mayo" convoy.
These initiatives have drawn criticism from Cubans both inside and outside the country, who label them as "ideological tourism." The journalist Yoani Sánchez encapsulated that rejection with a straightforward phrase: "Go do ideological tourism somewhere else. Here we are suffering."
On social media, Cubans have reacted to these flotillas with skepticism, using phrases like "I see many mouths and little food" or "The people won't even see that pass by," questioning whether the material aid actually reaches those who need it most.
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