Cuban Citizens Endure Long Waits at El Náutico While Díaz-Canel Remains Oblivious

On the same day that Miguel Díaz-Canel toured the "Félix Elmusa" workers' social circle—commonly referred to as El Náutico—to showcase it as a triumph of the regime, a video surfaced on the Facebook page "Cuba en Fotos" revealing a starkly different reality. The footage captures Cubans queuing for up to four hours under the scorching sun, hoping to gain access to the beach, with no certainty of success.

The video was recorded at the entrance of the facility located in the Náutico neighborhood of Playa municipality by Roberto Suárez, a photographer for the Juventud Rebelde newspaper.

Suárez documents the scene as buses and vehicles belonging to employees of the Ministries of Transportation, Communications, and Aviation pass by (El Náutico caters to the unions of these sectors), while other visitors like himself endure an interminable wait in line.

"First, those with priority enter, meaning the beach members who are part of those entities and workplaces, and then the rest of us from the street can enter," the video’s narrator explains.

His warning is clear: "If you're just a regular person from the street, I wouldn’t recommend coming here. You're going to get stuck in a massive line for three or four hours in the morning, and you might get in by 11 or 12 noon."

Suárez himself waited two hours in line, watching many abandon their attempt to enter before reaching the front.

As the video concludes, just steps from the entrance, Suárez sums up his experience with resignation: "Two hours later, we're practically at the door. But as you can see, it took two hours."

The video has amassed over 265,000 views, highlighting the stark contrast with the official visit.

On Saturday, Díaz-Canel and his wife, Lis Cuesta Peraza, visited the venue, which reopened in early July after four months of renovations spearheaded by CACSA. They toured the diving areas, gym, pool, pizzeria, art gallery, and children's room, with Díaz-Canel commenting, "This is an experience that can be replicated." The center’s manager, Maytée Crespo Alonso, was more circumspect: "The challenge is to maintain it."

Despite the regime's portrayal of the facility as "open to the public," the reality is a tiered access system that excludes workers who equally need recreational options. Unfortunately, most workers' social circles have fallen into disrepair.

The video's author doesn't mince words: "I believe all these beaches should be open to everyone equally, allowing people from any background to become members and enjoy the facility which is, after all, for everyone to share equally."

"The beach you get is, unfortunately, the one you get," he concludes, encapsulating more effectively than any official speech the inequality that the regime has promised to eliminate for 67 years.

This pattern is not new. In 2025, the regime restored the Club of the FAR—formerly the Miramar Yacht Club—for exclusive use by the military. Now, El Náutico caters to workers from Transportation, ETECSA, and Aviation. And what about everyone else?

Meanwhile, the "Julio Antonio Mella" workers' social circle, originally the Havana Yacht Club, remains closed and in ruins, and the "La Concha" facility, located just meters from El Náutico, was destroyed by a fire in December 2024 after years of neglect.

All of this unfolds during one of the harshest summers that Cubans have faced in decades, with power outages lasting between 20 and 35 hours daily in Havana, and an average salary that barely reaches $12 a month at the informal exchange rate.