Summary: Cuba is facing a severe economic and electricity crisis that is disrupting daily life and public safety; travel to Cuba currently poses significant risks to foreign visitors.

HQtest Travel Safety News

Havana, Cuba — 23 December 2025

Lead: Cuba’s tourism sector and public services are under acute strain as a deepening economic squeeze and cascading power failures leave large parts of the island with prolonged outages and limited basic services.

Crisis overview: Fuel imports have fallen sharply, forcing the shutdown of roughly one third of the country’s power generation capacity and producing long, repeated blackouts that are affecting homes, hospitals, and businesses; many urban areas now face multi‑hour daily outages. Large generation shortfalls approaching 2,000 MW have been reported, producing island‑wide instability in the national grid.

Human impact: The fragile grid has experienced multiple collapses this year, with experts warning that these are symptoms of deeper structural weaknesses in the electricity system and national infrastructure. Citizens face unreliable water, communications, and medical services, and emergency response capacity is strained.

Travel implications: For foreign visitors, the situation raises immediate safety and logistical concerns: limited electricity, intermittent internet, cash‑only transactions, reduced medical access, and potential transport disruptions. Major hotels may run on generators, but small guesthouses and local services are often unable to maintain operations, increasing exposure to risk for independent travelers.

Advisory and recommendations: Nonessential travel to Cuba is not recommended at this time. If travel is unavoidable, prepare for power outages by packing extra medicines, power banks, and contingency cash; register travel plans with your embassy and monitor local advisories. Expect service limitations and plan alternatives in case of sudden infrastructure failures.

Outlook: Until fuel supplies and generation capacity stabilize and public services recover, Cuba remains a high‑risk destination for tourists; travelers should weigh safety concerns heavily before planning trips