What Is a Colonial House in Old Havana? A colonial house in Old Havana is a building type, not a decorating style. Cuba's Oficina del Historiador classifies each of the 3,370 buildings in the 214-hectare historic centre by architectural typology - zaguán, patio, crujía, entresuelo - and by a heritage protection grade that decides what an owner may legally change. About 500 rank as high heritage...
A legal marriage in Cuba becomes offical and legal only when it's formalised before a competent official. Cuba's Family Code, Ley 156/2022, published in Gaceta Oficial No. 99 of 27 September 2022, says so in Article 201.3. Under Article 203.2, only notaries and Civil Status registrars can authorise it. Everything else is a ceremony. Couples plan this backwards. They fix the date, then the house, then...
Cuban law sorts Havana's 15 municipalities into three tax tiers. Playa, Plaza de la Revolucion and La Habana Vieja carry the highest location coefficient, 6.0. Cerro, Centro Habana and Diez de Octubre carry 5.0. The other nine carry 4.0. The rule is Resolucion 313/2024of Cuba's Finance Ministry, in force since 15 November 2024. In Havana the neighbourhood argument is a sport. Vedado people think...
Cuba taxes a home sale on the transaction price, as long as that price sits at or above a state minimum. Two separate systems produce that minimum: the valor referencial, a five-zone table set by Resolucion 313/2024, and the valor catastral Cuba, built on a module of 13 Cuban pesos per square metre fixed by Resolucion 284/2022. Thirteen pesos. Per square metre. On 17 August 2026, elTOQUE put the...
Cuba approved a new Housing Law on 30 July 2026, replacing the Ley 65 of 1988. It permits ownership of up to two homes, sets conditions for foreign nationals to buy apartments through state real-estate entities, and shifts the sale tax base to cadastral value. It takes effect 90 days after publication in the Gaceta Oficial. That last sentence is the one nobody is repeating. On 11 August 2026, Cuba...
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