The ¨El Pais¨ newspaper announces today the new project that is coming in Cuba for the Year 2022 (there´s not any info in english about this issue yet). A new 5* luxury tower hotel that totally breaks the traditional architecture in the Island. It seems as¨vanguard¨ finally reaches Cuba too.
This initiative is the first one announced by the new Cuban Government after the recent nomination of Mr. Miguel Diaz-Canel as President in Cuba, after Castro´s Regime. And a short while after as well, the Kempinski Resorts chain opened the first 5* luxury hotel in Cuba, just one year ago.
This new growing context will build a huge renovation in what is currently considered as ¨the last communist stronghold in Human History¨. In this sense, my personal opinion is that Cuba probably will try to rescue once the old and almost forgotten atmospheres of the casinos, the Cabaret Tropicana Club, the smoked atmospheres full of cigars and cocktails… the ¨famous Cuba¨ that we all have in mind.
BUT WHY WILL EVERYTHING BE ¨DIFFERENT¨ NOW??.
After 60 years of real ¨survival¨, the recent cuban generations are not prepared to not even guess what the concept of ¨real luxury¨ means. Just hardly the 5% of the population in the Island can speak fluent english for instance, and the teenagers love now wearing luxury clothing brands, without taking any consideration for the authentic or fake clothes. They are not used to take care of their traditions eather, and the Reggaeton music is killing today the old salsa and the guajira traditional tendencies.
In this way, the cuban ¨mystical soul¨ is in a current danger of extinction, and involving this context, I´m pretty sure the next luxury tourists that arrive the Island in the future, will get a total ¨shock¨ for what they were supposed to be expecting to find in the Island, versus what their eyes will really see in front of them. ..What I lived for three years there, definitely no ¨luxury visitor¨ will be able to experience it again.
WHAT WILL THE FUTURE VISITORS ¨NOT SEE¨ IN CUBA??.
They will not be able to pay in a double national-foreign currency, and you can´t imagine how BIG! this change is. The Cuban soul has traditionally emerged from a complex ¨deal¨, where the locals developed their intelligence to survive buying in the local markets, to later resell everything in the foreign environments. This was the strategic beginning of a human interaction between cubans and foreigners, to obtain for instance real exclusive cigars from the Partagas Company, or amazing white rum bottles from the Havana Club Factory. Both of each parts were earning their owns interests in these kind of relations, and all this originated later a beautiful relation of real ¨friendship¨ among them. In the end, and according to their hospitality (cubans are very thankful and they really appreciate your interest for them), you finished visiting their homes, attending their private familiar parties, knowing the real cuban ¨idiosyncrasy¨, and in that moment you began to become a ¨one more cuban¨.
This is how I met Mr. Alberto Granados ( the man who rode with Che Guevara on an idealistic motorcycle odyssey through South America in the early 1950s), or such local famous artists as Tania from ¨Bamboleo¨ and Pablo Menendez from ¨Mezcla¨, the Otero family from the ¨Cojo Otero¨ personal helicopter pilot of Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution, relevant politics in their private parties at the Hemingway Marina as Isidro Leal, the Havana City Historian, or recognized pioneer celebrities in the Island as Mongo P, the founder of the mythical ¨Bodeguita del Medio¨. You can even find in the way, shocking surprises never imagined as a german motorbike from the World War II.
All these amazing people and unforgettable anecdotes, all these real human friends gained in the life path, appeared in my life thanks to a first beer with whoever any unknown local person found in any cuban street, and from a necessary humble predisposition from the tourist to reach the principles of other cultures such different to theirs as cuban culture is. In this sense, it is obligatory to leave the arrogance at home first. This is a good advice trust me.
IN CONCLUSION:
I´m afraid we are currently living the last moments of a real ¨golden era¨ of Humanity, for a place where you can still find real ¨human beings¨ even today. If you are considering the idea of visiting Cuba in a ¨real luxury way¨, that goes beyond the just 5* caves and prioritizes other ¨5* experiences¨, then please don´t hesitate to contact me. Together we will explore all the facilities that the Island already offers as luxury villas, yachts, classic sedans and amazing restaurants according to a luxury concept, but going deeper as well in the field of emotions through the ¨unique experiences¨, that just a few privileged people can reach worldwide.
You will not regret, this is a last call for demanding travellers. History lives.
For further info visit www.jmaspain.com/cubaincentivetravel