The Sevillano neighborhood is located in the Diez de Octubre municipality of Havana. It is not the best-known neighborhood in Havana, but it is one of the quietest and most well-preserved, although it has not escaped the impact of time and the crisis.
Neighboring other well-known neighborhoods such as La Víbora, Sevillano also borders the Arroyo Naranjo municipality, from which it is separated by the railroad line. Covering nearly one square kilometer, it also borders other important arteries in the area, such as the Vento and Diez de Octubre thoroughfares, and Avenida de Acosta.
Now a People’s Council, the Sevillano neighborhood dates back to the first half of the 20th century and was initially conceived as a middle-class residential area, with comfortable homes and educational, healthcare and commercial centers for its residents.
It was not the most luxurious or wealthy neighborhood in Havana, but it was a peaceful and welcoming place, with parks such as Córdoba Park and the one named after the neighborhood itself. The well-known Villa Marista was also built there, founded as a school and sanatorium by the Catholic congregation of the same name. It was later converted, and remains to this day, the State Security headquarters and detention center.
Buildings in good condition, remnants of its former splendor, still survive. Sevillano today also exhibits the effects of the island’s prolonged economic crisis. It’s not just cracks in walls, sidewalks and pavements, but also traces of institutional and social neglect, such as the stinking garbage that piles up on some streets and corners.
Photojournalist Otmaro Rodríguez visited this Havana neighborhood a few days ago on one of his regular tours of the Cuban capital. And this is how he shows it to us now, with its lights and shadows, its wounds and emblematic places, and its daily hustle and bustle in the midst of the crisis.
