Public indecency prompts the return of Cuba's love hotels

06 August 2017 - 00:00 By Elizabeth Sleith

Cuba is a famously passionate country - perhaps a little too passionate, as it turns out.
Apparently there is such a problem of public indecency in Havana - with couples lovemaking in parks and on staircases and beaches - that the government has announced it will bring back posadas - or love hotels - so people can get their passion on in private.
The state-run posadas, where rooms could be rented by the hour, arose in popularity in the 1960s as an attempt to deal with the housing shortage, which meant whole families were crowded into shared apartments and amorous couples had very little chance of being alone in private spaces.According to the official trade union weekly Trabajadores, there were about 60 posadas in Havana in 1973, which had dwindled to 30 by 1989. In the 1990s, the last were converted to hurricane shelters.
Private businesses filled something of a gap, but their pricing - at $5 for a three-hour stretch - was prohibitive for most and so it became fairly common for people to engage in X-rated activities in public, with several notorious hook-up spots emerging, including the Malecon waterfront.
Now the government hopes a state-run, more affordable option will help...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.