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For many years, it was in charge of welcoming Havana visitors. As the years passed and with the development of aeronautics, the Malecon ( sea front wall) stopped having that exclusive right but it continues being a special spot of the capital for tourists spending their Cuba vacations.
In this cement serpent that goes all along Havana coast for almost six kilometers, you can see either couples sharing their love with the sea, people who refuse to get along their lives with obesity and go jogging, or bathers who ignore the sea pollution and turn the Malecon into an inadequate city beach. This is an ideal place for the visitor to enjoy the sunrise and sunset with an incredible definition. People come and go about the Malecon without knowing the history of this picturesque place.
The Malecon is the first avenue to deserve this nomination in Havana. Its construction started during the first American intervention in the island, not with the purpose of improving traffic circulation but for healthiness reasons and public adornment. Before its construction, the reefs boarding the city were actual rubbish dumps completely covered by garbage and the travelers who came by sea, at their arrival in the city, the first thing they saw was the ugly and depressing view of the San Lazaro Street houses backyards, a street parallel to the Malecon. When the Intervention ceased on May 20, 1902, about 500 meters had been built.
The construction of this avenue continued during the different republican governments until 1959. It was made by sections and although each of them has a name, Cubans have always identified it as Malecon.
The first section was made during the Estrada Palma government (1902-1906) and went from the Paseo del Prado (Prado Promenade) until Maceo Park at Belascoain Street. Firstly, it was given the name of Golf Avenue. Afterwards, this section had the names Avenida de la Republica, Avenue of the Republic, (
1902) and Avenida del General Antonio Maceo, General Antonio Maceo Avenue (
1908) and then Antonio Maceo Avenue, (1909) which is its current official name, although this name appears only in old maps.
In 1916, under Mario Garcia Menocal government, this avenue was extended up to San Lazaro Turret, on the other side of Maceo Park. To do so was complicated, for it was necessary to fill up San Lazaro Inlet, a creek 93 meter wide and 5.5 meter deep in its mouth that had facilitated the pirates landing a long time ago.
In 1921, under Alfredo Zayas government, the Malecon went as far as the Maine Monument, located next to the National Hotel, where the Santa Clara artillery battery was. In this section, another difficulty was faced since the coast was formed by the cliff of the battery itself, so the wall had to be separated about 30 meters from the coast and an area of more than 100 squared meters had to be filled up. This section was called Washington Avenue.
In 1930, Carlos Miguel de Cspedes, the "dynamic" Minister of Public Works of President Machado, prolonged it up to G Street and it was given the name of Pi and Margall Avenue.
In 1950, (Prio and Batista governments) the Malecon was stretched out to what was considered its natural ending, that is to say, La Chorrera Castle, besides the mouth of Almendares River, its name being Aguilera Avenue.
The reader of this, who probably knows Havana, may have noticed that there is a Malecon section missing, the one next to the Old City, which is bathed by Havana Bay waters. Although at first the construction was planned only towards the West, in 1921 studies were carried out to extend the project up to the Old Havana Harbor Master's Office. This avenue would be joined to the already built section, giving the harbor an easy access from Vedado. The project intended to take more than 100 000 square meters from the sea, of which many were intended for use as parks and traffic circulation improvements. The work started on Mars, 1926, and ended in 1929. This means that then, the Malecon extended only from the harbor up to the National Hotel area. This section was given the name of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Avenue.
I would like to talk in this article not only about the Malecon construction sequence and the different names it received. There are other interesting aspects related to its history that I would like to mention.
I said at the beginning that the Malecon is used nowadays for some people as a swimming place even though it is well known that its waters are not suitable for this purpose, for they are contaminated in some sections. You should know that there was a time when its waters were clean; until the 50's, Havana had several areas where people went regularly for a swim.
To build the Malecon first section it was necessary to demolish the very rudimentary facilities of the first swimming places that Havana had, such as Las Delicias, Romaguera and San Rafael.
To enlarge the Malecon from G Street and up, it was necessary to bring down two "beach" resorts: El Progreso, (The Progress) established in 1895, and Las Playas, (The Beaches) dated from 1901. El Progreso was at E Street, an area still known by some Havana inhabitants after its old name: Ban(os (Baths), whereas Las Playas was at C Street. The Ban(os de Carneado resort was also demolished, at Paseo Street and The Balneario Infantil (a resort for children) , supported by Havana Town Hall and therefore free for everybody, was equally closed.
To finsh this article I would like you to realize something that you may not have noticed and that is very peculiar. Have you noticed that the Malecon is not only the longest bench in the world but the best guarded as well? In both its sides there are fortresses, La Chorrera and La Punta, witnesses of how afraid the colony was of the pirates and corsaires attacks. The first one dated from 1646 and was completely destroyed when Havana was taken by the English in 1762, rebuilt as it is today after the city was given back to the Spanish. La Punta Castle was built after the attack to Havana by the famous French corsaire Jacques de Sores in 1555, who demonstrated the necessity of fortifying Havana Harbor entrance when he landed in San Lazaro old inlet and entered the city unseen. It was then, in 1590, that the construction of La Punta and El Morro Castles began.
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