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A Cuban food stand at the San Fernando Market in the Lavapiés neighborhood of Madrid It’s reminiscent of our grandmother’s kitchen. The point of a letter is Traditional dishes, drinks such as mojitos, daiquiris and tropical fruit smoothiesApururu greets visitors with neon signs reading “Patria y Vida” and other signs demanding Cuban freedom. Its owner, Miguel Antonio Caballero, wants to create Space for Cubans“.
“It is not a cliché to sell Cuba to the Spanish public.Anyone from Spain or anywhere in the world can come and spend money, but it’s a space that creates a feeling of being like family. I went to restaurants that had portraits of Che but not of Celia Cruz. I don’t go to those places anymore. What do they sell there? I feel No space created specifically for Cubans“.
Apururu opened three years ago. Since then, Caballero has received a variety of feedbackAlthough his message has upset defenders of Castroism, Cubans have assured him that he hopes Create a space for bonding.
“We Cubans have always been taught to divide ourselves. They divide us through television, telephone, neighbors, schools. We still don’t know how to be a united community like everyone else. Sympathizers of the regime come and when they see the decorations, they stop moving forward. Once someone told me not to talk about anything anymore. “If your purpose for coming here is to make money, don’t get involved.”
April 2023 Apururu workers, all Cubansthey reported a Aggression by left-wing groups.
“It was a gang of about ten people, all with the same message (…). They shouted ‘worms out of our country, fascists out of our streets’. They destroyed almost all the furniture in the bar,” declared Lázaro Mireles, a worker activist, to DIARIO DE CUBA.
Video from the location’s security camerasVideos shared on social networks showed the men slapping each other after entering, followed by a violent scene with stools flying in the air.
“The market is in one of the most left-wing neighborhoods in Madrid. It’s where the anarchist and communist unions are headquartered. So, Cubans are totally against the dictatorship, with large posters saying “Patria y Vida” and are not welcomeCaballero said.
According to him, the first thing was a boycott of the industry. False ads appeared around the market, inviting open bars to offer mojitos for ten euros to annoy the neighbors. There were also stickers calling them fascists, until the physical attacks arrived. “The institutions that promote such boycotts are all bankrupt; those people and the economy don’t get along well.”
Miguel Antonio Caballero left Cuba eight years agoBorn in Santa Clara, he studied art history, social communication and graphic design at the Higher School of Design. To make ends meet, he sold artwork at the San José Fair, in the port of Havana and in the northern islands of the province.
“I left Cuba because of the political system. I never understood myself being with him. And the economic system“I make money by selling my work to tourists, but my desire has never been to earn enough to cycle across the city in search of a bottle of oil or some meat.”
Despite his art-related training, Caballero arrived in Madrid and started working in the hospitality industry. Next to Apururu, Cubans had just opened a pizzeria. Calle Segovia, 13 The menu combines Cuban-style pizza and cold guarapo.
“Nobody buys a painting, a portrait or learns to paint when they need it. What everybody always needs is food, funeral homes and hospitals. I prefer food. When I got here, I trained as a chef. I was lucky enough to work with a chef for three years, in a school I couldn’t afford, and when that guy left the business, I learned how to run a hotel business, and I continued to do his job. , I said yes, I’m going to work like the Chinese sleep standing up, and he did it for me.
The pizzeria also has a very Creole atmosphere. A TV built into the wall plays Cuban cartoonsOn the other wall there is Paintings by Celia Cruz, Bola de Nieve, views of Havana, and even framed coffee bags.However, nostalgia did not influence Caballero’s decision. Do not return to Cuba during the dictatorship.
“I’m not going to put my euros there. Now, If the dictatorship falls tomorrow, I won’t open a restaurant, I’ll open a franchise. In every province, from Guantánamo to Pinar del Río”.
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