El Malecón

Havana, Cuba. October 2017 (22 photos)

This is part 12 of my Cuba 2017 photo series.

El Malecón (officially Avenida de Maceo) is a broad esplanade, roadway and seawall which stretches for 8 km along the coast in Havana from the mouth of Havana Harbour in Old Havana, along the north side of the Centro Habana neighborhood, ending in the Vedado neighbourhood.

It’s one of the best known features of Havana. A favourite place for locals and tourists alike. Let’s take a cruise along it.

Construction of the Malecón began in 1901, during the temporary U.S. military rule in Cuba.

The main purpose of building the Malecón was to protect Havana from the water and the so-called Nortes, extreme ocean waves in the Gulf of Mexico caused by tropical cyclones and anticyclone systems.

Many of the buildings along the Malecón in the “old Havana” area are weathered and in ruins, after years of weather damage and neglect. Yet as you see from the hanging laundry, people still live in them.

Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro in the background, at the mouth of Havana Harbour.

In the distance is the western reach of the Malecón, the area referred to as “modern Havana”. That’s Habana Libre* on the left. To the right you can see parkland in front of the Hotel Nacional de Cuba**. And behind the Nacional is Edificio FOCSA***.

* Habana Libre was originally a Hilton Hotel, built during the latter years of President Batista’s rule. Upon the victory of the Revolution, Fidel Castro took over the building, renamed as Habana Libre as his headquarters for a few months, before being returned to its original use as a hotel, although now State property.

**Hotel Nacional de Cuba opened in 1930. During the latter years of President Batista’s rule, the hotel came into the part ownership of Meyer Lansky, “the Mob’s Accountant”. In December 1946 the hotel hosted the Havana Conference, an infamous mob summit run by Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky and attended by Santo Trafficante, Jr., Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Vito Genovese and many others. Francis Ford Coppola dramatised the conference in his film The Godfather Part II.

***The FOCSA Building is, at 121 metres high, the tallest building in Cuba. It is considered one of the wonders of Cuban civil engineering since at completion in 1956 it was considered a national sensation due to its modern technology. Built in an era when concrete construction of buildings more than 18 storeys tall was considered unaffordable, the FOCSA was only the second project of its kind in the world.

Hotel Nacional de Cuba. There’s a bunker network in the parkland in front of this building, featuring an account of the Cuban Missile Crisis, from the Cuban point of view of course.

Along the Malecón you’ll find the José Martí Sports Park. It’s grandstand now in a serious state of decay.

“Despacito
Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito
Deja que te diga cosas al oído
Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo”

The Malecón attracts people wanting to catch fish. A good catch offers a chance to supplement their usual income.

My initial visits to the Malecón were during calm seas. I did get to see it as well later during rougher seas. The ambience of the Malecón changes completely.

That day, police shut the Malecón to all traffic for a while, something they do when the seas get too wild.

“Odio el mar, solo hermoso cuando gime”

“I hate the sea, beautiful only when it howls”

…Jose Marti.

See the fishermen in the background standing on the wall?

Uh oh

Somewhere…

…beyond the sea(wall)

…

This is part 12 of my Cuba 2017 photo series.

This is part 16 of my photo series of my 2017 trip to the USA, Mexico, Cuba, and Canada.