Cuba is bringing back state-run "love motels" for couples who are struggling to find the privacy needed for intimacy because of housing shortages and poverty.

The island's official trade union weekly, Trabajadores, says the communist government wants to "diversify options for love" by restoring a network of 'posadas' where couples can rent rooms by the hour.

The need is driven by a housing shortage that has left many families sharing the same apartment and couples living together long after their divorce.

That is forcing less wealthy lovers to resort to "parks, dark staircases, the beach and even the seafront", according to Trabajadores.

The journal reports some fortunate couples are able to take advantage of private establishments, but the cost - about 8.38 CUC (£6.50) for three hours - puts them beyond the means of many Cubans.


Dozens of "love motels" were once available in the capital, Havana, but numbers dwindled until, in the 1990s, those remaining were offered to residents whose homes had been destroyed by hurricanes.

"We want to revive this service that is in high demand, has a big social impact and without a doubt is very profitable," writes Trabajadores.

Alfonso Muoz Chang, of the Provincial Housing Company of Havana, explained that they will start by restoring a two-storey Havana establishment known as Hotel Vento before moving onto once-famous love motels like La Monumental.

After that another hotel will be converted.

"The city needs this," said Hotel Vento administrator Maria Sterling, who also claimed it would go down well with employees, who would anticipate more work and extra wages.

"To think about how to diversify options for love is not farfetched," Trabajadores wrote. "It is a reality that concerns everyone, and cannot become a luxury."