Unlike the 1990s, when Cuban citizens were legally banned from entering state-owned retail establishments that sold goods and services in foreign currency, the government under Raúl Castro’s leadership (2006-2018) officially opened their doors to all. So long as Cuban nationals could pay in CUC, a currency backed by Euros or US dollars, they could shop in state stores, eat in all restaurants, and even stay in government hotels overnight. However, the majority of Cubans, who continued to receive their government salaries or operated businesses for other Cubans, still did not qualify because their income remained in moneda nacional, the Cuban peso that, after the elimination of the Soviet bloc, had no value on the world market. Thus the idea of going to a Benetton like this one, located in Old Havana, or a Pepe Jeans, was as many Cubans said, like going to the zoo: you got to watch exotic creatures and displays in their element. Old Havana, July 2016.