Amid the crisis from Hurricane Melissa, which affected over 76,000 homes in eastern Cuba, a modular factory in Antilla produces components exclusively for luxury hotels. Authorities have barred state media from investigating the plant, despite proposals to redirect its output toward rebuilding affected homes. The government blames the U.S. embargo for material shortages, as tourism drops 25%.
Hurricane Melissa has left over 76,000 homes affected in eastern Cuba, worsening the construction materials crisis. Yet the Antilla Modular Plant, located on the Ramón de Antilla peninsula in Holguín, is dedicated exclusively to manufacturing modules for luxury hotel complexes. This facility, covering more than nine hectares with two covered workshops each 300 linear meters long, has a capacity of 6,300 cubic meters and employs 448 workers. It produces 70 complete modules per month, including electrical and plumbing installations, ready for occupancy.
Photographer Juan Pablo Contreras revealed on Facebook that authorities reprimanded state media interested in the factory, telling them: “Forget about that plant. In fact, it doesn’t exist. It was never built.” A video from the French firm Bouygues Bâtiment International, involved in projects like the Iberostar La Habana, Torre K, and Grand Packard, shows the plant fully operational. Alden Angulo Roque, deputy director of the Ramón de Antilla industrial park, states in the video that it “defines the future of construction in Cuba.”
One beneficiary is the Baracutey hotel, where 576 of its 640 rooms will be modular, saving six months on construction. Journalist Abdiel Bermúdez commented: “This is how things are, as if there were something hidden between heaven and earth... Shameful, once again.”
Engineers like Yulieta Hernández Díaz propose repurposing the plant to aid victims, as it is in the affected area. “The island has recovery in its own hands... There’s no need to import. There’s no need to wait. There is a need to decide,” she wrote on Facebook. Designer William Sosa suggested the “Raíz Viva” project for housing modules at 10% of a hotel room's cost, but was arrested for “disobedience” after posting it.
Despite a 25% drop in tourists in the first half of 2025 (981,856 visitors), the government prioritizes empty hotels and blames the U.S. embargo for difficulties in assisting victims.