I grew up with Julio Iglesias’ music in the family home. His third child Enrique is now a mega famous singer himself.

Video production people milling around on Cárdenas Street, Old Havana

Returning from Soroa, Rocío and I were walking to our accommodation in Old Havana (Habana Vieja) when we arrived to a closed road. On Cárdenas Street people and film production equipment surrounded its notable art nouveau houses.

Sign on a production van parked on a side street; the Liverpool production was in association with Ogilvy, Oxígeno, TV Casa Productora and Island Film

Production equipment and the green art nouveau house on Cárdenas Street

Rocío asked around and discovered they were recording an Enrique Iglesias music video, although he was nowhere to be seen. We hung around for a while before dropping bags off at our accommodation, later returning to the set.

This guy was popular with the set hangers-on

Little seemed to be happening although a man with a white beard appeared important given the attention paid to him by others.

Something is happening in this room fronted by a typically huge Havana doorway

We noticed people focusing on the house left of the green one.

Watching proceedings from a white art nouveau house balcony

Standing around during a break in shooting

Then a rope was lifted across the road and a greater sense of urgency ensued. The crew appeared to be recording in the room and observing footage from an outside monitor.

The rope is up, recording has recommenced

From a distance we managed the odd peak inside. The centre of attention was a man seated wearing what resembled a haircutting cape. Not knowing what Enrique Iglesias looked like I suggested to Rocío that it could be him. She disagreed. Indeed, the photo below doesn’t look like Enrique’s publicity shots but I think it is him without the usual hair product, make-up or baseball cap.

Is this Enrique Iglesias underneath his baseball cap, hair product and make-up?

Later I learned the production was for the Spanish language single Subeme La Radio by Enrique Iglesias featuring Cuban singer Descemer Bueno and Puerto Rico duo Zion & Lennox. The street scenes in the clip below were shot on Cárdenas Street prior to our arrival. It doesn’t appear any footage from the room made the video which, crazily, has received more than 1 billion views.

On our first afternoon in Cuba we saw Plácido Domingo. On our final evening we stumbled upon an Enrique Iglesias video shoot. I can understand how Cuba is nicknamed land of miracles!