The Havana City Historian Office received the Reina Sofia International Award in the category of Cultural Heritage Preservation and Restoration. Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain presented city historian Eusebio Leal Spengler with the prize in Madrid on December 19th.

The prize, granted annually for the rehabilitation and restoration of historic centers, was a unanimous decision of the jury which, Leal said, was motivated by the social undertaking in the revitalization of the Cuban capital's historical center known as Old Havana.

In the historian's words, "the award is actually a tribute to the people of Old Havana and the entire city of Havana, who have undertaken the restoration works in a social effort that, while not being perfect, expresses the best of our society."