Action of 13 June 1898 decided to withdraw. At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War Cienfuegos was a strategically important port due to its facilities and good communications with Havana. Some prewar plans recommended its prompt capture, but instead it was blockaded, along with some other important ports of the southern coast of Cuba such as Santiago de Cuba and Manzanillo. The most powerful Spanish naval units of the island, meanwhile, had been gathered in Santiago, and submarine defenses consisting mainly of torpedoes had been installed in the major ports of Havana, Cienfuegos, Santiago and San Juan de Puerto Rico. The naval units based in
Carnival of Santiago de Cuba or "“Carnaval de los mamarrachos”" which also coincided with the celebration of Santiago day on July 25. By the 1920s Winter Carnaval celebrations were abandoned, and Summer Carnaval remained the only Carnaval in Santiago de Cuba. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays during the month of June, everyone in Cuba knew one could go to Santiago to party. The major patrons of these summer festivities were local industries: Polar, La Cristal and Hatuey beers; Bacardi rum; and Eden tobacco. Many of the participants in Summer Carnaval were the newly unemployed sugar and coffee workers, who were quite willing to remain in