Havana/After the withdrawal of several international hotel chains and with Cuban tourism in free fall, the Government is now looking for someone to put up the money to rescue facilities that has failed to explode. The Cienfuegos Tourism Real Estate Company offers seven properties to private entrepreneurs and foreign investors, including a villa in Cayo Carenas, the expansion of the Blue Palace and several properties in the most coveted areas of the city.
According to the official newspaper September 5the Tourism authorities have decided expand your leasing possibilities to new economic actors. Their main clients were the state chains Gran Caribe, Islazul and Extrahotelera Palmares, but now they intend also incorporate MSMEsnational legal entities, Cubans residing abroad and foreign investors.
Pedro Luis Lemus Sorrondeguí, director of the entity, presented the initiative as an opportunity to recover facilities that remain closed or whose projects never materialized. “It is a magnificent opportunity to be able to reborn or enable these facilities, fulfill the dreams that we have had for years in projects and achieve better economic results,” he assured.
Among the available locations are the Campomanes hostel, located on the corner of Campomanes and Paseo del Prado, and the planned Mochilero hostel, on Avenida 50
Among the available locations are the Campomanes hostel, located on the corner of Campomanes and Paseo del Prado, and the planned Mochilero hostel, on Avenida 50. The offer also includes the old Palmares warehouses and the Amanecer-La Punta complex, made up of the La Punta hostel and the Amanecer building, which previously functioned as Casa del Educador.
Most properties are concentrated in corridors of considerable tourist value, such as the Prado, the Malecón and the Punta Gorda peninsula. However, official information does not detail its construction status nor does it clearly distinguish between deteriorated buildings, closed facilities and projects that were never carried out.
One of the most striking cases is Cayo Carenas, a small inhabited island in the bay of Cienfuegos. While the Ministry of Tourism contemplates its commercial use, residents have depended for years on precarious electrical installations and improvised solutions to obtain drinking water.
The French association Cuba Coopération France described in 2023 a community of 22 homes supplied by a deteriorated generator that provided electricity for just a few hours a day. The organization, together with the Foundation of the EDF electrical group, promoted a project to modernize the supply through photovoltaic energy and a new distribution network.
But financial difficulties also affected that initiative. In July 2025, French officials acknowledged that three companies had withdrawn their funding commitmentsleaving a deficit of 15,000 euros. The lack of resources forced the project execution stages to be reconsidered.
The authorities have not publicly identified the signatories of the letters or clarified whether any of these commitments are related to the seven properties offered by the real estate company.
The search for capital occurs a few days after the La Perla del Sur Business Forum, celebrated on October 9 and 10 in the Valle Palace. During the meeting, 52 tourism investment proposals were presented and 28 letters of intent were signed, according to figures released by Prensa Latina.
The event brought together, in person and virtually, more than 240 participants, including representatives of five embassies, 35 Cuban and foreign companies and 22 private enterprises. However, the authorities have not publicly identified the signatories of the letters or clarified whether any of these commitments are related to the seven properties offered by the real estate company.
The portfolio of opportunities in Cienfuegos is also much broader. Yanet González Laso, provincial head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, explained that it is also intended to recover the old Perla hotel, located in Prado and Castillo, as well as three mountain hotels, a villa and three restaurants that are currently not on the market due to lack of financing.
The official pointed out that part of the services of future facilities could be charged in foreign currency to recover investments, while another part would be offered in national currency. This possibility is part of the process of partial dollarization of the economy, which has expanded the presence of prices in foreign currency in different sectors.
For now, the State does not announce the sale of these properties, but rather the possibility of renting them and allowing their exploitation by third parties. The initiative leaves, however, numerous questions unanswered. It remains to be seen how much future tenants will have to invest and what the State will receive in exchange for putting some of the most attractive tourist locations in Cienfuegos in their hands.
