{"id":231928,"date":"2020-12-18T13:04:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T18:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=231928"},"modified":"2020-12-18T13:04:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T18:04:21","slug":"sun-beach-and-safety-cubas-proposal-in-times-of-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/sun-beach-and-safety-cubas-proposal-in-times-of-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun, beach and safety: Cuba\u2019s proposal in times of pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, it is hard to believe that we are in 2020: several people sunbathe on the sand, others laugh with cocktails in hand and a couple embracing walk near the water. All with their faces uncovered, forgetting for a few days that a pandemic is still raging outside.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only clue that <\/span>COVID-19<\/span><\/a> is still a reality are the mandatory use of masks for Cuban hotel personnel, governed by a protocol that includes taking temperature and hand and foot disinfection at the entrance, which employees kindly make guests comply with, without exceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n

A radiant sun smack in the middle of winter, paradisiacal beaches and sanitary safety are the benefits with which Cuba wants to attract a foreign tourism increasingly necessary to revive its battered economy, now even more affected by the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Women workers offer disinfectant gel to tourists upon arrival at a hotel on December 2, 2020, in Cayo Coco. Photo: Ernesto Mastrascusa\/EFE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe wanted to come to get away from the cold and Cuba seemed the best option. We could not be happier,\u201d said Lisa, a 30-year-old tourist, who traveled thousands of kilometers from Yakutia, Siberia, to \u201cwarm up to the rhythm of salsa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Traveling to the island was always in the plans of Muscovite Sergei Saliavin. \u201cWhen I saw the ads, I didn\u2019t think twice and booked. They have been a few days in paradise and it will be hard to return to reality,\u201d he lamented.<\/span><\/p>\n

SAFE BUBBLE<\/b><\/p>\n

The Jardines del Rey archipelago, a group of islets to the north of the country with some 25 hotels, was <\/span>among the first to receive foreigners<\/span><\/a> after the closure of borders due to the coronavirus and is the only one that still remains almost \u201cdisconnected\u201d from the big island.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cuba to open to foreign tourism on July 1, but only in its keys<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n