Jardines del Rey, the paradise brand of Cuba

Havana, Jul 7 (RHC) Cuba's north-central zone includes an area of keys with a great tourist development based on the charms of nature, an emblematic scenery well known in the world, today with great tourist attractions.

It is the fourth region of recreational development in the country in terms of hotel capacity (after Havana, Varadero and Holguin).

That name, Jardines del Rey (King's Gardens), which has become a brand name, groups several keys with tourist potential in the Sabana-Camagüey archipelago, and that name was given by the Spanish explorer Diego Velázquez, who between 1513 and 1514 wanted to honor King Ferdinand the Catholic in that way.

Therefore, that name was the official denomination of those places until the beginning of the 20th century. Abandoned place, only frequented at the time by charcoal burners and fishermen with temporary settlement, it became an ideal place for a perfect vacation.

It was also immortalized by the American writer Ernest Hemingway in his book Islands in the Gulf, where he even chased German submarines during World War II.

There, Cayo Coco is the fourth largest island of the Cuban archipelago and the main axis of the area, named after the Coco bird or Ibis of the forest, white and with a curved beak.

But there are also the keys Guillermo, Cruz and Paredón Grande, included in the tourism development plans with a potential of up to 22 thousand rooms.

Cayo Coco has 370 square kilometers and 22 kilometers of beach, while Cayo Guillermo has 13 square kilometers and almost six kilometers of beaches, including Pilar, with the largest sand dune in the Caribbean (15 meters high) according to official data.

Paredón Grande, the other key of the place, has eight kilometers of beaches, and the fourth in relevance is Antón Chico. In these places there are more than 200 species of birds, symbolic the Pink Flamingo, and a flora with about 385 species, including 28 endemic ones. The beaches are the main attraction of the place with a total of 38 kilometers in extension, and in spite of being narrow, their waters are crystalline and the bottoms are low.  (Source: Prensa Latina)