Hotels Lit Up, Hospitals in the Dark: Cuba's Two Worlds

On the afternoon of February 22, 2026, Hotel Playa Pesquero in Holguín — owned by the military chain Gaviota, the hotel arm of the GAESA conglomerate — posted on social media the promotion of a special beachside dinner. The image showed decorated tables, festive lighting, and the tagline: “every detail celebrates the magic of Cuba.”

That very same day, from the same province, came another image: the hospital in Sagua de Tánamo without electricity “day and night.” Medical tests canceled. Patients in darkness.

Two Cubas. One island.

The Privilege That Goes Undeclared

Cuba has been suffering an electricity deficit exceeding 1,700 MW during peak hours for weeks. Satellite images show the country systematically going dark. But some zones don’t go dark: tourist hotels, especially those run by GAESA, have priority supply or their own generators.

The state’s economic rationale has its logic: tourism generates hard currency, without which Cuba cannot import anything. But that logic is building an increasingly visible social divide — especially when advertised on social media while neighborhoods have been without power for 12 hours.

Activist Joankelin Sánchez put it bluntly: “Cuba no longer wants Revolution.”

The Health System Collapsing in Silence

Cuba’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse according to international reports and internal complaints. Blackouts in hospitals are not anecdotes: they cancel surgeries, disable diagnostic equipment, and cut oxygen supply in emergencies.

Cuba has already implemented emergency measures including university closures and shortened workweeks. But hospitals cannot close. And the electricity flowing to hotels is not flowing to oncology wards.

The Hotel Playa Pesquero image went viral precisely because it condenses that contradiction into a single frame: the glamour of profitable tourism versus the drama of abandoned public health.

GAESA: The State Within the State

Understanding this duality requires understanding GAESA. This military conglomerate is not just an economic actor: it is a parallel state that manages hard currency. Gaviota, its hotel branch, operates on business criteria while the national power grid is managed as a permanent crisis.

That Gaviota hotels have electricity is not accidental: it reflects a political decision to preserve the state’s most immediate source of income. The problem is that decision is made at the expense of the very population the state claims to serve.

The Protest That Won’t Stop

Cuban social media has been the most honest thermometer of the crisis for weeks. The record 800 MW of solar generation was celebrated as an achievement, but citizens respond with comparisons: 800 MW of midday sun doesn’t help when the hospital is still dark at 7 pm.

The Hotel Playa Pesquero image is just the latest in a series of contrasts circulating on Facebook, Telegram, and YouTube. And each contrast erodes a little more of the official narrative that everyone is suffering equally.

Sources

• CiberCuba — Hotels with Electricity and Special Dinners