Dollar stores return to Cuba as pandemic destroys tourism revenue

The communist government has been forced to allow citizens to spend US currency at special shops, formalising a split between haves and have-nots

On Paseo del Prado, a boulevard in Havana's colonial district, dozens of people waited expectantly as the staff raised the shutters to open a tatty but revamped shop.

Soon after, Alejandro Dominguez, 23, emerged, brandishing meatballs and a giant tin of chopped tomatoes he had just bought with US currency left as tourist tips at his family's restaurant. This is a way to get products you can't find elsewhere," he said.