The Spanish singer, songwriter, and actress Silvia Pérez Cruz held a unique concert at the Church of San Francisco el Nuevo this Sunday, located at the corner of Cuba and Amargura streets in Old Havana, amidst the severe multidimensional crisis the island is facing.
The recital, which started at six in the evening, was described by the Cuban professor Julio César González Pagés as "an act of faith" in a Facebook post. “Today I was invited to an act of faith at the corner of Cuba and Amargura streets, a tremendous coincidence, in Old Havana. An angel flew in from Barcelona to share his voice, music, and love,” wrote Pagés, who was present at the event.
The church was deliberately chosen for its natural acoustics and, above all, for not relying on the national electrical grid. The setting became symbolic: that very Sunday, power outages in Cuba affected a large part of the island's territory simultaneously, with outages lasting over 20 hours in some areas, and the available electricity generation barely reached 1,032 MW against a much higher demand.
The concert took place illuminated by candles on the floor and was sung almost at full voice, without electric amplification. Professor Pagés, a renowned historian and writer, shared the experience on social media and emphasized that, with such simplicity, "it needed no more to make us soar and pull us out of the deadly routine." He also highlighted that Silvia "demonstrated that when you love a community, you find a way to be with it in its worst moments without 'manichean' speeches."
Three musicians accompanied the artist on stage: Bori Alberto on double bass, Marta Roma on cello, and Carlos Monfort on violin. The Cuban academic described them bluntly: "The three musicians accompanying her were sweating profusely and sounded like gods." The program included songs from her latest album, Oral_Abisal, emblematic pieces from her discography, and other tracks.
The audience, who waited for hours outside the church before the event began, applauded and cheered continuously, according to the same testimony. The event was free and received support from the SGAE Foundation, the Embassy of Spain in Cuba, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and the Cuban Institute of Music.
Silvia Pérez Cruz herself had anticipated the emotional significance of the event. In statements to the EFE agency, she stated: "I believe this is the most important concert of the entire tour." She added: "I have an intimate relationship with this island; I want to take care of it in the way I know how, which is by singing."
That connection to Cuba has familial roots. Her father, Càstor Pérez, was a researcher, composer of habaneras, and an expert in Cuban music, and he taught her "La tarde" by the traditional trova composer Sindo Garay when she was four years old. Silvia recorded this piece in 2010 as a tribute to her father, who passed away that same year, after they had traveled the island together. In July 2026, she announced the Havana concert on social media with the message "Beloved Cuba, cherished Cuba," accompanied by a video of her performing that song.
The stop in Havana is part of a Latin American tour that started in Mexico City and will continue through the Dominican Republic, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Just two days before the Havana concert, the artist had performed for 17,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, during the farewell of Gustavo Dudamel as the musical and artistic director of the Philharmonic in that city.
The energy context surrounding the concert is not incidental: Cuba has experienced seven total collapses of the National Electric System so far in 2026, two of them recorded at the beginning of August. On the 4th of that month, a record actual impact of 2,411 MW was reached. In light of this reality, Professor González Pagés, an active commentator on Cuba's reality through his social media, concluded his account with a phrase that captures the sentiment of many: "Thank you, Silvia, I will never forget your gesture towards my tribe; love is repaid with love."
Related videos:
Filed under: