“What tourist will want to visit us under these conditions?”: The country torn apart by the new US sanctions

The sun is setting in Pálpite, a small town on the edge of the vast Zapata Swamp, when suddenly the road fills with commotion. But not because of the red crabs that once drew hundreds of thousands of tourists annually to one of Cuba's main ecotourism destinations, Reuters writes.

The crowd now consists of locals rushing out of their homes in search of a mobile phone signal as the lights flicker on and off amid a US power blackout. The blockade has condemned much of the island to living without electricity.

“What tourist will want to visit us under these conditions?” Manuela Arencibia Báez, owner of a rental house, complained to Reuters. Now mostly empty, the home is located in the seaside resort of Playa Larga, 3 kilometers away and the main accommodation destination in the region.

The woman says she lost track of the reservations she had to cancel, including some tourists already in the country who couldn't find a taxi driver with enough fuel to make the two-hour trip southeast from Havana.

Crash in the number of tourists arriving in Cuba

Official data confirms Arencibia's concerns. The number of international tourists fell by 56% in February compared to the same period last year. Both hotels in Playa Larga are closed. Most tourist attractions are also closed.

Cuba has faced shortages for decades, plagued by a state economy and the trade embargo imposed by the United States of America since the Cold War. It complicates everything from financial transactions to importing fuel.

But this time, the situation is different, at least 12 locals and tourism workers in the Zapata region told Reuters.

“We are in a much worse situation than even during the coronavirus pandemic,” says Arencibia, listing a list of lost reservations of tourists from countries such as Switzerland, Canada, France or Germany.

US sanctions are causing a wide range of problems in Cuba

Power outages now last up to 22 hours a day, and residents have only a few hours of daylight in which to rush to call relatives in Miami or Havana or prepare food before it spoils in refrigerators.

Water is becoming increasingly scarce in many communities. Medical services – already difficult to access in remote areas of the country – have become almost impossible, affected by power outages and lack of communications. Fuel for independent tourists, who once came to the area in rental cars, is largely unavailable.

The fuel embargo imposed by Donald Trump coincided with what is traditionally the peak tourist season in Cuba. The move virtually ensured a disastrous year – the final blow to an industry already plagued by shortages but still generating up to 10% of the island nation's foreign exchange earnings in 2024.

Many hotels and services, from Havana eastward to top beach destinations such as Varadero, Cayo Santa María and Cayo Coco, were forced to close as fuel shortages forced many airlines to cut flights.

“During this time we never have a free seat,” says Fidel Silvestre Fuentes, a rental house owner who has long provided accommodation for birdwatchers who come from all over the world to see the bee hummingbird, the world's smallest bird, among other endemic species.

“Now, it's empty,” the 67-year-old points out.

A ghost town in Cuba

The Zapata Swamp region, included in a national park almost untouched by human activity, still has more private vacation rentals than even Cuba's most popular sun and beach destination, Varadero. But now it seems like a ghost town.

The asphalt pits have deepened on the only access road in the region. The coastal path between the white sands of Playa Larga, at the base of the bay, and Playa Girón, further out, seems deserted, populated mainly by stray crabbers, locals on horseback and men and women on bicycles.

Even the main attractions of the region are closed. Cueva de los Peces, a transparent, seemingly bottomless cave filled with colorful tropical fish, has been closed for two months.

The impact is particularly severe in regions such as Zapata, which offer residents few work alternatives outside of tourism.

“If you don't have a house to rent, you work in a restaurant; and if you don't work in the field, you're probably related to someone who does,” explains Alberto Brito, a hat and souvenir seller who now lives on a few pesos a day.

“I have reached the bottom of the bag,” he says.

“Tourists don't come to Cuba for comfortable accommodation”

Fidel Fuentes Rayó, who rents a house in Playa Larga, is among the lucky few who had the money to buy solar panels and a lithium battery for storage, giving him an edge over the competition.

But he says even that doesn't help him now.

“Tourists don't come to Cuba for comfortable accommodation, but to visit the national park and enjoy bird watching, diving, boating, sport fishing… experiences that are simply not available now,” he says, citing fuel shortages and transportation problems.

However, a few isolated tourists continue to try their luck traveling to the region.

Blair Andrews, an American tourist, has returned to Cuba several times, enough so that she is known by name to the guides at a diving base in the Bay of Pigs.

The 51-year-old woman told Reuters that she was not worried about the electricity and phone signal.

“I come back because the people of Cuba are good hosts and have a beautiful culture,” she says. “I am very sad because of what is happening to them,” says the tourist from the USA.