A video posted this Wednesday on the Facebook profile of La Kinkalla TV shows the accumulation of garbage and debris at the corner of San Rafael and Galiano, one of the busiest areas in the Cuban capital, where the partial collapse of a building in August 2025 resulted in the death of a worker from Café Boulevard.
"They have turned this collapse here on the boulevard into a garbage dump. The waste and pollution continue to grow," laments the voice accompanying the images, as the camera surveys the area. The author also warns about the condition of the structure and the danger it poses, in his opinion, to those who pass through the area.
The text accompanying the clip states that "this is just another example of the apathy and mismanagement of the Cuban government, and if we continue to tolerate it, we will face more collapses and our history dissolving."
The collapse occurred on August 14, 2025, when the roof of the upper floor of the building collapsed, dragging down the first-floor ceiling and crashing onto the ground floor, where Café Boulevard was located. Several people were trapped under the rubble and an employee of the establishment lost his life.
According to complaints from neighbors at the time, the building, which was approximately a century old, had been declared uninhabitable for years, while its façade received touch-ups that did not address the structural issues of the property.
The video once again highlights the condition of the site more than 14 months after the tragedy. Instead of visible rehabilitation, the images show waste and remnants of the structure accumulated in a space on San Rafael Boulevard, an iconic area of the Cuban capital.
User reactions reflect outrage over the decline and nostalgia for the boulevard's commercial past. "It was beautiful; as a child, going for a stroll, seeing those shops, the cinemas—anyway, they've destroyed everything," wrote a user.
Another recalled that in that corner, "on the ground floor there was a café from the Palmares chain. How horrible!". A third comment directly attributed the situation to the Cuban government. "This is true, just a few blocks from the Capitol, but it's the government's fault, ONLY THEIRS," he wrote.
Several users identified the site as the former "VEA," a space they remember as a social and commercial meeting point in Havana. "One of the most iconic places in Havana. Draw your own destructions, sorry, conclusions," another commenter quipped.
"We're out of Habana," summarized another user, in a response that captured the frustration expressed in the comments regarding the deterioration of a space linked to the urban memory of the capital.
The scene fits into a pattern of urban decay that is progressing unchecked. In Havana, around 1,000 buildings collapse each year according to official figures, there are 185,348 properties in poor condition, and the housing shortage exceeds 929,000 units nationwide.
The garbage crisis exacerbates the situation, with a shortage of personnel, collection trucks, and an energy crisis that keeps the waste collection system inactive.
Other emblematic spaces in Centro Habana have faced a similar fate: the Ultra warehouses have turned into a public restroom, while streets like Monte, Zanja, and Belascoaín remain overwhelmed by mountains of trash.
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