In contrast with the Plaza Vieja, whose restoration I detail above in the “Special Period” section of Fotodiario, this fountain, located in what had once been the heart of Havana’s financial and commercial center, was never fenced to keep Cubans away. However, the fact that it started to work—meaning that water came out regularly from its spouts—was a welcome sight. The beauty of such early republican-era, public decorations of urban life remains a source of commentary among Cubans who often remark on the “brutalism” of Soviet-era constructions and the decay into which virtually every landmark and public locale had slipped before their restoration became essential to the government’s efforts to generate profits from tourism.