A video shared on Facebook has once again highlighted the degradation of Playa Mayabeque, also known as Playa Rosario del Mayabeque, along the southern coast of the municipality of Melena del Sur, where dozens of Cubans bathe amidst cans, waste, and litter accumulated on the shore and in the water.
The recording, published by Marisol Carabeo Morales, surpassed 75,000 views and sparked an intense debate about dirt, the neglect of recreational spaces, and the limited options many families have to enjoy a few hours of leisure amid the deep crisis the country is experiencing.
"Mayabeque, a beach in extinction. There were more trash than people; truly, we Cubans are pigs, we get used to everything, even living among the garbage," wrote Carabeo alongside the video.
The images show numerous waste items and cans scattered around the area where bathers enter the water, particularly at the mouth of the Mayabeque River, whose cold waters have been one of the main attractions of the popular resort for decades.
The scene sparked outrage, but also nostalgia among Cubans who remember a very different beach.
"When I was a child, that river was huge, cold, yellow, and clean," commented a 42-year-old user, reminiscing about the Mayabeque of his childhood during the 1980s and 1990s.
Other internet users insisted that the economic crisis cannot be used as an excuse to dump waste in natural spaces.
"Poverty and filth have nothing to do with each other," noted a user.
Another drew attention to the visible environmental damage in the images: "In Cuba, they've lost awareness; it's so easy to grab a bag and throw it into a dumpster. Look at the number of cans right where the water runs and where people bathe; all of that is ecological harm."
However, behind the images of people swimming among the waste lies another reality: for many Cuban families, places like Playa Mayabeque are practically the only recreational option they can still afford.
An internet user summed up the situation by pointing out that destinations in better conditions are economically inaccessible for a large part of the population.
"There is nowhere to go, Jibacoa has expensive transportation and everything that comes with it, Varadero is unreachable, so there's no choice but to go to the little pond for a swim to relieve some of the stress we're going through and avoid ending up in a psychiatric hospital," he wrote.
The testimony introduces one of the harshest aspects of the scene: despite the unsanitary conditions depicted in the images, dozens of people continue to flock to the area in search of a few hours of relief from the heat, daily struggles, and a lack of affordable recreational options.
Cuban beaches amidst garbage and neglect
The deterioration of Playa Mayabeque is not an isolated case.
In April, Playa El Rosario, in Güines, was shown in a state of disrepair, amidst debris and semi-sunken boats. In June 2025, residents reported that areas of the coastline in Matanzas were overrun with plastic, cans, and even discarded appliances.
Similar images have previously emerged from Bacuranao, where bathers reported a seafloor transformed into a true graveyard of cans.
In January of this year, the well-known Santa Lucía beach in Camagüey was seen covered in sargassum and debris, yet another indication of the deterioration affecting natural and recreational spaces across various provinces in Cuba.
The situation coincides with a serious crisis in solid waste collection and management in Cuba, exacerbated by a lack of fuel, the deterioration of equipment, and years of deficiencies in communal services.
Cuban authorities launched the so-called "Cleanup Operation", which included 49 measures between November 2025 and February 2026, yet the accumulation of waste remains a common sight in numerous neighborhoods and public spaces.
In Playa Mayabeque, the problem combines this institutional inability to manage waste with the lack of responsibility from those who leave cans and other litter after visiting the site, an aspect repeatedly pointed out by the users themselves who reacted to the images.
Among the criticisms, a woman also left a message filled with nostalgia from those who knew the resort before its current decline.
"It remains beautiful, not only because of the neglect of those who should care for it as a government, but also because the nature of the surroundings has changed. I still dream of someday being able to bathe in my Mayabeque River like I did when I was a child," she wrote.
Your comment captures a sentiment shared by many Cubans in response to the images: it is not only a beach that is deteriorating, but also one of those popular spaces that have been linked to family memories for generations and to a form of recreation that is becoming increasingly difficult to find on the island.
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