Havana, the 'Paris of the Caribbean,' Gets its own Eiffel Tower

The illuminated four-meter high Eiffel Tower replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorge Enrique Salgado. (Reuters)
The illuminated four-meter high Eiffel Tower replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorge Enrique Salgado. (Reuters)
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Havana, the 'Paris of the Caribbean,' Gets its own Eiffel Tower

The illuminated four-meter high Eiffel Tower replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorge Enrique Salgado. (Reuters)
The illuminated four-meter high Eiffel Tower replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorge Enrique Salgado. (Reuters)

Havana was once dubbed the “Paris of the Caribbean” for its beautiful architecture, vibrant arts scene, and flourishing nightlife. Now it even has its own Eiffel Tower.

The illuminated four-meter (13-ft) high replica by Cuban blacksmith Jorge Enrique Salgado lights up a corner of the otherwise dimly-lit Arroyo Naranjo southern residential district of the capital.

Salgado, 52, an accountant who learned metalworking from his father, says he has never been to Paris. But he had seen the Eiffel Tower in films and photos and when his son asked him to make an antenna to capture the Wi-Fi signal of a nearby park, he hit on the idea of making a model.

Home internet service is not widely available in the Communist-run island, but Wi-Fi hotspots have been rolled out in parks and plazas nationwide since 2015.

In the end, the project took on a life of its own and they never installed the antenna because they felt it would ruin the aesthetic of the model that took months to build. Cuba has also rolled out mobile internet over the last year and a half.

“To make the tower, my son downloaded plans, models, photos and other details via the internet,” said Salgado. “I realized the original tower was built piece by piece so that’s what I did.”

Salgado said he bought and salvaged pieces of iron railings to build the tower on the roof of his home, using car halogens to light it up, in a country where it is often difficult to find material.

“We based our lighting exactly on the original,” said his son, Enrique Salgado, who helped him build the replica.

The enthusiasm in the neighborhood for his Eiffel Tower has kindled hopes he could make a living from the passion project and he is now working on a slightly smaller model to sell.

“I never thought of dedicating myself to this, never,” said Salgado. “(But) it would be an honor to be able to live off this.”



Australian-Made Rocket Achieves Liftoff with Vegemite Payload 

In this photo provided by Gilmour Space Technologies an Eris rocket is launched on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, near Bowen, Australia. (Gilmour Space Technologies) 
In this photo provided by Gilmour Space Technologies an Eris rocket is launched on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, near Bowen, Australia. (Gilmour Space Technologies) 
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Australian-Made Rocket Achieves Liftoff with Vegemite Payload 

In this photo provided by Gilmour Space Technologies an Eris rocket is launched on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, near Bowen, Australia. (Gilmour Space Technologies) 
In this photo provided by Gilmour Space Technologies an Eris rocket is launched on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, near Bowen, Australia. (Gilmour Space Technologies) 

An Australian aerospace company on Wednesday celebrated the short-lived test launch of an orbital rocket carrying a jar of Vegemite in its nose cone.

After waiting 18 months for the right launch window, the three-stage Eris rocket achieved about 14 seconds of flight before sputtering to Earth in a plume of smoke.

It was built by Gilmour Space Technologies, which is vying to send the first locally built rocket into orbit from Australian soil.

"I'm so relieved you couldn't believe," chief executive Adam Gilmour told AFP.

"I was so nervous about it getting off the pad, that when it did, I screamed in pure joy."

Video showed the rocket barely cleared the top of the launch tower, briefly hovering above the ground before running out of steam.

The 23-meter vehicle -- designed to launch small satellites into low-Earth orbit -- was launched from Abbot Point, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) up from the Queensland capital Brisbane.

The payload for the test flight was a jar of Vegemite, a popular Australian toast topping, which was strapped inside the rocket's nose cone.

Gilmour said preparations for a second test flight were already under way, with a view to launching within the next "six-to-eight months".

"It's huge what you can prove with just 10 to 15 seconds of flight time," he said.

He added: "I'm sorry to say the Vegemite didn't make it."

The company, which has 230 employees, hopes to start commercial launches in late 2026 or early 2027.