Cuba - Lonely Planet [280]
Information
BOOKSTORES
Librería Fulgencio Oroz (Colón No 151)
INTERNET ACCESS & TELEPHONE
Etecsa Telepunto (Francisco Vega btwn Vicente García & Lucas Ortiz; 8:30am-7:30pm) Spanking new air-conditioned haven on the shopping boulevard.
LIBRARIES
Biblioteca Provincial José Martí ( 34-27-10; Vicente García No 4; Mon-Sat)
MEDICAL SERVICES
Hospital Che Guevara ( 34-50-12; cnr Avs CJ Finlay & 2 de Diciembre) One kilometer from the highway exit toward Holguín.
MONEY
Banco de Crédito y Comercio (Vicente García No 69; 8am-2pm Mon-Fri, 8-10.20am Sat)
Banco Financiero Internacional ( 34-62-02; cnr Vicente García & 24 de Febrero)
Cadeca ( 34-63-63; Colón No 41; 8:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8:30am-1pm Sun)
POST
Post office ( 34-27-38; Vicente García No 6; 8am-8pm) There are internet terminals here too.
TRAVEL AGENCIES
Cubana ( 34-27-02; cnr Lucas Ortíz & 24 de Febrero)
Sights
Las Tunas’ most evocative sight, Memorial a los Mártires de Barbados (Lucas Ortíz No 344; admission free; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat), is located in the former home of Carlos Leyva González, an Olympic fencer who was killed in the nation’s worst terrorist atrocity: the bombing of Cubana Flight 455 in 1976 (see boxed text,). Individual photos of the victims of the attack, which included the entire 24-member Cuban Olympic fencing team, line the museum walls and provide a poignant reminder of the fated Flight 455.
Housed in the royal-blue town hall with a clock mounted on the front facade, the Museo Provincial General Vicente García ( 34-82-01; cnr Francisco Varona & Ángel Guardia; admission CUC$1; 11am‑7pm Tue-Thu, 2-10pm Fri & Sat, 3-7pm Sun) documents local history. Congenial guides will fill in the gaps.
Nearby is the Memorial Vicente García (Vicente García No 7; admission CUC$1; 3-7pm Mon, 11am-7pm Tue-Sat), a colonial-era structure that commemorates Las Tunas’ great War of Independence hero who captured the town from the Spanish in 1876 and torched it 21 years later when the colonizers sought to reclaim it. The limited exhibits include antique weapons and some grainy photos.
Popularly called the ‘city of sculptures’ (there are more than 100 in town), Las Tunas’ alfresco art is dotted around the city. In Plaza Martiana, opened in 1995 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of José Martí’s death, you’ll see an inventive bronze statue of the apostle by Rita Longa, that also acts as a solar clock. Other notables include the Monumento al Trabajo (Carretera Central & Martí), commemorating Cuban workers, and the pencil-like Monumento a Alfabetización (Lucas Ortiz), marking the act passed in Las Tunas on November 16, 1961 to stamp out illiteracy. You’ll have to get out to Motel El Cornito to see the emblematic Janus-inspired Cacique Maniabo y Jibacoa, a double-headed Taíno chief looking in opposite directions. Back in town the small Galería Taller Escultura (cnr Av 2 de Diciembre & Lucas Ortiz) pulls together some fine local work.
Las Tunas’ Plaza de la Revolución is huge, bombastic and worth a once-over. Check out the huge Lenin-esque sculpture of Vicente García, sword raised.
Festivals & Events
Lovers of Cuban country music gather at Motel El Cornito in late June for the Jornada Cucalambeana, Cuba’s greatest celebration of rural culture. The town hosts a National Sculpture Exhibition in February and the rather esoteric Festival Internacional de Magia (Magic Festival) in November.
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ASK A LOCAL
There’s plenty to do in Las Tunas, if you know where to look. The highlight is the annual Cucalambé festival that honors our greatest country musician. Not too far away there’s a pleasant lake called Lago Azul where the locals like to hang out. Then there’s ‘our’ beaches on the north coast – the most eco-friendly on the island.
Ana, Las Tunas
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Sleeping
Unless you’re up for a night in the grim and gritty Hotel Las Tunas, a private room is your best bet for accommodation. Several houses rent clean, affordable rooms along Calle Lucas Ortíz, between the train station and