Falla is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n village and ''consejo popular'' ("people's council", i.e. hamlet) of the municipality of

Chambas Chambas is a municipality and town in the Ciego de Ávila Province of Cuba. Geography It is located in the northern part of the province, bordering the municipalities of Morón and Florencia, as well as the province of Sancti Spíritus. To the ...

, in

Ciego de Ávila Province Ciego de Ávila () is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central (central highway), and the second city is Morón, further north. The provin ...

. In 2011 it had a population of about 8,789.

History

Founded in 1912 as the ''

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...

'' Nauyús y Cacarratas, owned by Pepe Planas, a man linked to Falla-Gutiérrez sugar company. After his death (shot by unknown), the Laureano Falla-Gutiérrez Association, which would extend it for the delivery of land made by the President of the Republic,

Alfredo Zayas Alfredo de Zayas y Alfonso (February 21, 1861 – April 11, 1934), usually known as Alfredo de Zayas under Spanish naming customs and also known as Alfredo Zayas, was a Cuban lawyer, poet and political figure. He served as prosecutor, judge, may ...

, is in charge of the hacienda. The concession of the latifundium extended the sugarcane monoculture in the area and, with it, the development of the current urban settlement. After the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

, and following the creation of "people's councils" (''consejos populares''), the one of Falla was named Enrique Varona after Enrique Varona González, a Cuban

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

leader and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

killed in 1920.

Geography

Located on a rural plain, southwest of

Laguna de Leche Laguna de Leche (Spanish for "Milk Lagoon", also called ''Laguna Grande de Morón'') is the largest natural fresh water lake in Cuba. It is located in the wetland of northern Ciego de Ávila Province, north of Morón, and has a total surface of ...

(9 km far) and south of the

Bay of Buena Vista The Bay of Buena Vista ( es, Bahía de Buena Vista) is a bay on Cuba's northern Atlantic shore. It is located in the northern part of the provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara and Ciego de Ávila, between mainland Cuba and the archipelag ...

(28 km from

Punta San Juan Punta is an Afro-indigenous dance and cultural music originating in the Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent And The Grenadines by the Garifuna people before being exiled from the island. Which is also known as Yurumei. It has Africa, African and ...

), Falla spans across the state highway "

Circuito Norte The ''Circuito Norte'' (CN), meaning "Northern Circuit", is a west-east highway spanning the length of the island of Cuba, through the Atlantic Coast. With a length of 1,222 km, it is the second-longest Cuban highway, after the " Carretera ...

" and the railway. The western old settlement develops around the sugar factory, the eastern new area grows mainly to the north of the

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing ...

. The village is 15 km from

Tamarindo Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae ...

, 17 from

, 18 from Morón, 24 from

Ciro Redondo Ciro Redondo is a municipality and town in the Ciego de Ávila Province of Cuba. It is located halfway between the cities of Ciego de Ávila and Morón and was named after . Demographics In 2004, the municipality of Ciro Redondo had a populatio ...

, 28 from Florencia, 41 from

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highwa ...

and 81 from

Cayo Coco Cayo Coco (''Cays'') or (''The Keys)'' is an island in central Cuba, known for its all-inclusive resorts. It lies within the Ciego de Ávila Province and is part of a chain of islands called Jardines del Rey (''King's Gardens''). The cay is adminis ...

. Nearest settlements are the villages El Calvario (6 km west) and Ranchuelo (7 km east).

Economy

The main economic activity is represented by the

sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate climat ...

. The

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or beets into white refined sugar. Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it more colour (and impurities) than the ...

"Enrique Varona" (''Central Azucarero Enrique Varona Gonzáles''), founded in 1915 as ''Central Adelaida'', is a large

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

with its own

industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British ra ...

line.

Transport

Falla is crossed in the middle the state highway "

" (CN). It counts a railway station on the Santa Clara-

Camajuaní Camajuaní is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. History In 1819 was decided the construction of a new port in near Caibarién to replace an old one located in Tesisco. From that moment, settlers established in the ...

- Morón-

Nuevitas Nuevitas is a municipality and port town in the Camagüey Province of Cuba. The large bay was sighted by Christopher Columbus in 1492. History Founded in 1775, the city was moved to its present site in 1828. Before the 1977 national municipal ref ...

line, with local and long-distance trains, connecting the village with

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

too. Falla station is also the terminus of 3 minor branch lines: one to Kilo 9 and

(Maxímo Gómez), another (closed) to Chicola (by the

), and a third one (industrial) to Ciro Redondo, on the Morón-Ciego de Ávila line. This one serves the sugar refinery "Enrique Varona".

References

External links