The cultural center and its director attributed what happened to an error and denounced an alleged institutional campaign.
MADRID, Spain.- One day after it was made public the complaint of a young Cuban who was denied entry to the Art Factory (FAC) due to “right of admission”, the cultural center and its director, the musician X Alfonso, reacted with posts on Facebook in which they rejected any racist motivation and attributed what happened to an error.
In a extensive statement, The FAC “categorically” denied the accusations of discrimination and described as “false and embarrassing” the statements spread by official institutions, including the Cuban Institute of Music. The text maintains that the project has been, since its founding, a space for inclusion, diversity and unity through art, and denounces what it considers a “discredit campaign” against the initiative.
According to the FAC, the conflict intensified after the center’s decision to pay tribute to Celia Cruz on the centenary of her birth, initiative that – according to what they claim – was censored at the last minute by cultural authorities. In this context, the project is presented as a “thorn in the side” for institutional sectors that, in their opinion, try to control independent cultural expression.
The statement insists that the FAC is an autonomous project, managed by artists, that operates in a state property due to legal requirements and under the administrative supervision of a cultural institution that receives box office income. However, it emphasizes that its self-sustainability depends on its own resources and private actors, and that it does not receive government financing for its operating expenses.
For his part, X Alfonso published a note addressed to officials of the Cuban Ministry of Culture and the Cuban Institute of Music, in which he offered a version of what happened on the night of December 26. According to the musician, the security personnel denied entry to the young man and his companions due to the “right of admission” when they confused him with a person linked to robberies inside the premises.
Alfonso stated that, after learning of the complaint published on social networks on December 30, he contacted the young man to personally apologize and explain the mistake. According to his story, the affected person understood the misunderstanding, although the director acknowledged that “everything was wrong” and regretted what happened.
In his publication, the artist said that the “right of admission” at the FAC is only used to prevent access to people with a history of theft, harassment, disrespect, or who are drunk or drugged.
X Alfonso rejected that the case has a racist undertone and described as “surreal” the accusation that the FAC is a discriminatory space. Instead, he framed the controversy within a conflictive relationship with the Ministry of Culture since 2018, marked—as he said—by censorship, lack of dialogue and institutional pressures.
In the same publication, X attacked discrimination against Cubans. «For the short memory: the absurd use of the right of admission is what many of us experienced for years at Kevin’s age. They denied us entry to hotels because we were Cuban, to beach social circles, to stores for foreigners, to spaces where you could only enter if you were a family member of a military member. The list is long,” said the artist.
» And we don’t have to go that far: today, January 1, 2026, reality denies us access to what is necessary to survive because it is sold in a currency that we do not earn, a decision made by the same institutions that now repeat: “Their deep commitment to equality and social justice is unshakable.”
