How Havana became a great city

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz

2 How Havana became a great city

Discovered by Cristobal Colón on October 27, 1492, the island of Cuba was named

Juana, to honor the first born son of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs, Isabel de Castilla and

Fernando de Aragón.

For the next 300 years, from the XVI to the XVIII Centuries, the colony of Cuba held

significant importance for the Spanish Crown, due to the fact that the island served as a point of

encounter for all the Spanish ships participating in any commercial activity with the American

colonies. The Spanish vessels, departing from Seville in two different fleets, followed a pre-

established route called “Carrera de Indias” (The Indies Route) with the purpose of protecting

each other against pirates and corsairs. Once the goods and merchandise were collected, the

fleets gathered at the port of Havana where they stayed from one to three months before

returning to Spain.1 That is the reason why the port of Havana was considered the “Key for the

New World and Façade of the West Indies”, as it shows in a royal decree from 1634.2

Obviously, the cities of Havana and Santiago de Cuba highly benefited from the abundant

commercial activity and from their status as providers of goods and services for the Spanish

fleets. Particularly Havana, in its privileged condition as “Key for the New World”, grew and

prospered based on the areas related to its port and shipyard, where ships of the highest quality

were built for the Spanish army since the XVI Century.

Port of Havana in the XVIII Century.

The long stay of the fleets (comprised by more than one thousand people) in the port of

Havana stimulated the development of an important infrastructure dedicated to its service. We

can affirm that the socio-economic life of the city moved along with the pace imposed by the

presence of the ships; the Havana citizens had to provide lodging and goods for the visitors,

1 Manuel Lucena Salmoral: Organización y defensa de la Carrera de Indias, Edición original: 2003, Edición en la biblioteca

virtual: Noviembre, 2005, Consultado: Agosto 25, 2010, http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/historia/lucena/orgca/indice.htm.

2 Arturo Sorhegui: La trascendencia de la legislación en la evolución del puerto de la habana (1520 – 1880,.

Consultado: Agosto 25, 2010, http://www.estudiosatlanticos.com/aehe_files/Arturo_Sorhegui.pdf.

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz 3

supplies for the construction and fairing of the vessels, protection against possible threats from

pirates, and also entertaining for the sailors and soldiers.3

Old Square in Havana, XVIII Century.

During the second half of the XVIII Century the economic and social situation of the

island underwent a drastic change. Supported until then by a subsistence economy and subject to

numerous commercial restrictions, Cuba set a course toward a path of development through the

implementation of an economy based on extensive farming of diverse products destined to

import, such as sugar cane, tobacco and coffee. This radical transformation was stimulated by

two factors, the occupation of Havana by the English Crown and the Bourbon period in Spain.

The English fleet arriving at the Port of Havana.

After taking control of the city, the British immediately declared free trade between the

island, England and its colonies. This regulation caused that during the year of English

3 Sorhegui. La trascendencia de la legislación en la evolución del puerto de la habana (1520 – 1880).

4 How Havana became a great city

domination more than 700 ships carrying all kinds of merchandise arrived in Havana; a great

difference compared with the five or six that arrived yearly during the Spanish rule. Throughout

that period of time, the Cubans were allowed to buy and sell freely at reasonable prices and

obtained substantial earnings from their trade.4

When Cuba returned to the Spanish rule in 1763, those regulations related to trade and

commerce were maintained at a higher tolerance level than they were before the English control

of the city. This situation facilitated an improvement of the economy. Also at that time, the local

government (Capitanía General) acquired greater importance and efficiency. More Spanish

troops were assigned to the island and a local militia was created. In regard to Havana, the sugar

industry was benefited from an increment in the slave workforce brought to Cuba by the British,

and the shipyard, partially destroyed at the Havana seizure by the English troops, was rebuilt and

improved.5 In the last decades of the XVIII Century, Cuba carried on a deep transformation that

brought the island to become the most important exporter of sugar in the world at that time.6

According to Julio Le

Riverend, during the last quarter

of the XVIII Century, “Havana

transforms itself radically: from

a stronghold it comes to be a

commercial and industrial urban

center. From a stopover it

becomes a settling place. From

the group of houses and huts

surrounding the Main Square

(Plaza de Armas), mansions and

palaces emerge and align in

numerous streets that don’t fit

any longer within the boundaries

of the old city… Havana “Principal” Theater, “del Coliseo” or “de la Alameda”.

acquires the category of a fundamental event in the history of this region: She will dominate over

the entire territory as master and commander.”

Between the governments of the Marqués de la Torre and Luis de Las Casas (1771 to

1796) new fortresses are built such as La Cabaña, El Príncipe and Atarés; as well as forts such as

La Chorrera, Cojímar and El Torreón de San Lázaro. The Plaza de Armas is born, containing

4 Ramiro Guerra: Historia elemental de Cuba. Capítulo XIII, Consultado: Agosto 25, 2010,

http://www.guije.com/libros/historia01/c13/index.htm.

5 Consuelo Naranjo Orovio y María Dolores González-Ripoll: Perfiles del crecimiento de una ciudad, Dptos. de

Historia de América e Historia de la Ciencia, Centro de Estudios Históricos (CSIC), Madrid, Consultado: Agosto 25,

2010, http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/autor?codigo=555907.

6 Maluquer de Motes, J: Nación e Inmigración. Los españoles en Cuba (siglos XIX y XX) Gijón 1992.

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz 5

palaces such as those of El Segundo Cabo and Los Capitanes Generales. The government

proceeds with the installation of a Parroquia Mayor that will later become the Cathedral. The

Teatro Principal, also called “del Coliseo” or “de la Alameda” was built between 1792 and 1794,

as well as the Casa de Beneficencia and the Alameda de Paula.7

During the XIX

Century, the extraordinary

commercial development

started in the XVIII Century

continues to prevail, and the

immigration of individuals

from the northern regions of

Spain (mainly Galicia and

Asturias) notably increases.

The immigrants,

generally from very humble

origins, came to work in low

category jobs and with great

effort and dedication some

Galician immigrants. times moved up to better social

positions.

Those who achieved greater success usually brought members of their family or friends

to the island, with the purpose of providing company to their benefactors or helping them with

their business duties. Following, we quote the fragment of a letter from Tomás Trueba, Havana

resident, written in 1829 to his cousin in Santander:

“Dear cousin: Last 15th

I

sent a letter advising you to send

your two sons, my nephews. The

older, to have him by my side in

order to help me with my business

duties, because my poor health

doesn’t allow me to undertake

heavy tasks; the other one, to

facilitate him a future that may

offer greater advantages than this

miserable country (referring to

Spain) would be able to

provide…”

7 Sorhegui, La trascendencia de la legislación en la evolución del puerto de la habana (1520 – 1880).

6 How Havana became a great city

Port of Havana in the XIX Century.

Approximately during the second half of the XIX Century, an Asturian immigrant,

Antonio de las Barras, expressed the following opinion about the city oh Havana:

“I arrived at this capital city

worried with an idea we all

Spanish people sustain: that

this country is still to be

civilized. And it wasn’t little

my surprise when I found a

beautiful city that was at least

fifty years ahead of us in all

kind of innovations”… “In

general, Havana officials have

taken good care of its ornament

and decoration. Its main streets

and communication paths has

been paved and its avenues and

gardens are carefully

preserved. Montserrate Gate, Havana, XIX Century.

The earthy paths, usually damaged by heavy rains and passing carriages, are constantly

decreasing. A foreigner arriving to this city would not miss any of those characteristics

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz 7

Capitanes Generales Palace at the Plaza de Armas, Havana XIX Century.

pertaining to a civilized country. Good theater, the Tacón, maybe the best of all America. Good

“cafés” like those of Dominica, Escauriza and Louvre. Restaurants and luxury circuses like the

Chiarini or Nixon, in which we can find great shows during most part of the year; dances, wild

animal exhibitions, natural phenomenon, and gigantic panoramas. Finally, everything that an

advanced people would demand in regard to entertainment and amusement can be found in

Havana with great profusion, greatness and generosity, during the freshest month of the year,

from November to

February.”8

© by Armando Rodríguez, 2013. All rights reserved.

8 La Habana a mediados del siglo XIX. Memorias de Antonio de las Barras y Prado. Madrid 1926.