The (Mostly-)Vanished Clubs of Cuba

Cuba once had a sizeable club culture. It evolved in the late 19th century, during the years of Spanish occupation. Spain had been a relatively late adopter of clubs - although its first club was established in 1814, clubs only began to be popularised nationwide from the 1850s to the 1880s. Over 1,000 clubs had cropped up around Spain by the end of the century. Yet the Spanish were also keen exporters of the club to their colonies. Parallel to this explosion of Spanish clubs at home was the spread of Spanish clubs to Cuba, heavily focused on the capital of Havana.

A remarkably detailed video looking at the one-time clubs of Havana - for which I can claim absolutely no credit - by Armando Ruiz.

The 19th century Spanish-influenced clubs in Cuba were supplemented by the 20th century American-influenced clubs, not only during the years of American occupation (1898-1902 & 1906-8), but also during the years of booming American business during the Cuban Republic for much of the first half of the century, and the Batista regime from 1952-9. These later clubs were much more closely modelled on the American country clubs and beach clubs.

The Club Habana, which survives to this day, formerly the Biltmore Yacht & Country Club of Havana. (Photo credit: Tripadvisor.)

Perhaps predictably, the clubs of Cuba were all closed down, early in the regime of Fidel Castro - although a number of the buildings still stand to this day, converted to a range of municipal uses, such as theatres, libraries, and concert halls.

The grand staircase of the Club Habana. (Photo credit: https://cubancigarsculturelifestyle.blogspot.com/)

But there is an improbable coda to this. Two Cuban private members’ clubs still exist. One of them is the one-time Biltmore Yacht & Country Club, set up in Havana by American expatriates in 1928. Although it was nationalised in the 1960s, one avid frequenter of the Club was Fidel Castro himself, and it has ended up reopening in recent years as a private club, the Club Habana - the one concession to the country’s socialist regime being that inexpensive day membership passes are easy to procure. It has one of the only stretches of private beach available in Havana.

The Ernest Hemingway International Yacht Club on the Hemingway Marina in Havana.

A second club of a modern nature exists, further west on the Havana shoreline. This is the Ernest Hemingway International Yacht Club, named in memory of the writer, and opened in 1992. A recent ruling by a US federal judge shed light on how in past years, it had played a role in some American citizens cirumventing their country’s travel ban to Cuba, by utilising a legal loophole to allow them to dock there, and set up club accounts which would enable them to trade locally, for sundry expenses like meals, and souvenirs like cigars.

For more details on the vanished clubs of Cuba, I refer you to the impressively-detailed video embedded at the top of this piece, by Armando Ruiz, offering commentary and images of dozens of Havana clubs which existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.