Despite Severe Drought, Cuba Banks on More Golf Courses

HAVANA TIMES — For weeks now the subject of prolonged drought in the majority of Cuba’s municipalities and the need to conserve on water use has been a topic in the media. There are neighborhoods in many cities and rural communities where access to drinking water is only by tanker trucks, which may come all too infrequently.

However when it comes to the biggest users, money talks, meaning full speed ahead with the building of more golf courses.

Caribbean News Digital reports today that the Cuban government “approved a joint venture with the Spanish group La Playa Golf & Resorts S.L. To build a luxury hotel complex linked to golf in Punta Colorada, in Pinar del Río province, which would be one of the largest of its kind in Latin America, according to the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur).”

“The Punta Colorada Cuba Golf Marina will be built in an area of about 700 hectares in the area between the fishing village of La Fe and Punta Colorada, at the westernmost end of the island, about 170 kilometers from Havana.”

With numerous golf courses in government business portfolios to increase high-end tourism, “the director of Tourism Development and Investment, Jose Daniel Alonso, said that this year is also expected to see a green light to another similar project in partnership with the Spanish chain Globalia to build condominiums and golf courses on El Salado beach, located between Havana and the Special Development Zone of the port of Mariel.

Other similar projects underway also include luxury hotels, condos and houses for foreigners, involving the companies Cubagolf, China Beijing Enterprises Holding Ltd. and the British company Escencia Hotels and Resorts.