Postcards of the Havana Malecon Seawall
Photo Feature by Ernesto Gonzalez Diaz
HAVANA TIMES – In September of 2014 we published my first feature on Havana’s malecon seawall. Now, almost 3 years later, we return to show some postcards of this beautiful and emblematic avenue.
I think there is no Havana resident, or Cuban for that matter, capable of imagining this city without its seawall.
It’s a place that distinguishes it, where its inhabitants and visitors can spend hours talking, studying, singing, drinking, falling in love or just enjoying those beautiful things that life offers us at no cost.
Click on the thumbnails below to view all the photos in this gallery. On your PC or laptop, you can use the directional arrows on the keyboard to move within the gallery. On cell phones use the keys on the screen.
The Malecon is an excellent barometer for Cuba’s changes. In 1994 we stayed in a 1st floor casa with open views and only a few cars that gently and slowly rumbled past by day and night to mingle exhaust fumes with the smell of the sea. How different to today. Over the years we have seen the arrival of car showrooms and cafes, swish restaurants and Boutique hotels along that iconic sweep of road. Traffic has increased both in quantity, type and mph. Now vehicles thunder past often at breakneck speed making it seriously tricky to cross the road even at night. Let alone after a bottle of rum or a few beers. Pollution is on the up and the views over to Casablanca/El Moro are ruined by cranes looming over Old Havana for the purpose of building yet more hotels. Meanwhile iron footings left behind after the removal of bins trip up unsuspecting tourists who like to jog along the wide but crumbling sidewalks before the heat of the day has taken hold but swimming has been prohibited for the last couple of years – ostensibly because of accidents but it did coincide with the arrivals of cruise ships so perhaps it was more about trying to make sure that no one made a dash for a piece of America sailing close off shore.
Superb photos. The one by Ernesto Gonzalez Diaz is a classic, showing Cubans on a hot day enjoying the sprays of cooler water coming over the famed Malecon seawall.
A terrific experience!