Cuba has moved fast on the package of 176 economic reforms it greenlit in June, with the government confirming that 155 of them — 88% — now have legal backing. Another 17 measures are due to be approved in September, according to state media, as Prime Minister Manuel Marrero pushes ministers to turn policy on paper into visible change on the street.

The reforms aim to loosen the state's decades-long grip on the economy, and several touch directly on things visitors will notice. Private companies can now employ more than 100 workers and hire staff directly, a major shift for the growing private restaurant and guesthouse sector that most travellers actually use. Cubans living abroad have been given the right to invest on the island, and land users can hold indefinite-term usufruct rights — measures designed to pull money and expertise back from the diaspora.

Tourism and trade are explicitly part of the opening, though details remain thin. More immediately practical: a new regulatory package allows private firms to open foreign-currency bank accounts, deposit cash and make payments abroad directly — something that should gradually ease the chronic card and payment hassles foreigners encounter. On the health front, around 36 projects are under evaluation to open private pharmacies, ending the state's monopoly in that area. For anyone who has struggled to find basic medicines in Cuba, that could be genuinely significant.

Marrero has singled out agriculture as a strategic priority, urging the country to "produce from the land even under complex circumstances" — a nod to the food shortages that affect both locals and hotel kitchens.

The context behind all this is grim. The economy has contracted roughly 15% since 2020, and independent forecasts suggest it could shrink by another 10.3% this year. A US "maximum pressure" policy since early 2026, including an oil blockade and secondary sanctions that scare off foreign companies, has deepened the crisis. Cubans are living with blackouts of more than 20 hours a day and shortages of food and medicine. Marrero himself acknowledged that success depends on whether reforms translate into "a tangible improvement in people's lives."

For travellers, the takeaway is mixed. The reforms point toward a more open, private-sector-driven Cuba — better paladares, casa particulares and eventually pharmacies — which is exactly the Cuba many visitors prefer to engage with. But conditions on the ground remain hard: expect power cuts, patchy supplies and infrastructure under strain, and plan itineraries with flexibility and patience. Cash in euros or Canadian dollars is still more reliably useful than cards. If you've been waiting to see whether Cuba is opening up, the legal framework is increasingly there — the daily reality is catching up more slowly.

Story reported by OnCuba.