Institution that provides services for rheumatic, dermatological, stress, cosmetic, obesity, fitness and programs for the elderly. It has qualified scientific staff, made up of medical specialists.
Location and geographic characteristics
Located in the town of San Diego de los Baños to the north of the Los Palacios municipality , Pinar del Río province . The urban nucleus where the spa is located has 3,221 inhabitants and has 3 hotels.
Weather
San Diego has an intra-montane valley climate located on the border with the plain climate, a high-stable relative humidity. The rain regime passes at its greatest intensity from June to October . The least rainy period is from November to May . The annual average temperature is between 23 and 24 degrees, from May to September are the hottest months and from October to April the least hot.
Ecosystem
It has large, well-preserved forest areas where native fauna inhabits that is also conserved. There are no industries in San Diego that create abnormal situations in the environment. Agriculture is mainly exploited with citrus plans, and sugarcane and tobacco on a smaller scale. The main difficulty in the San Diego ecosystem is that there is no sewer system so some residuals are dumped into the river.
Landscape
San Diego has a heterogeneous landscape where the gentle hills of the southern slates alternate with the limestone elevations of the Sierra La Güira, where karst formations abound (caves, sinkholes, dog’s tooth, etc.) with lush vegetation with extensive area covered by pine forests developed in and around the San Diego River Valley .
The area is practically uninhabited, 3 kilometers from San Diego is La Güira National Park and 12 kilometers from Cabañas Los Pinos, very close to this last place is the Cueva de Los Portales where the Command of Ernesto Che Guevara settled during the October crisis . Within the area of the Spa is the Cueva del Taita Domingo, from where almost all the history or legend of the town of San Diego starts. Here there is also a Spanish turret from the XIX century . In the vicinity of San Diego is the Youth Dam that can be used for Sport Fishing and a beekeeping center where royal jelly , propolis are producedand premium quality honey .
History
The first references to population settlements in San Diego date back to 1632 . It is known that as early as 1700 the first patients came regularly from different regions in search of lost health.Spa
There are no concrete data on the Foundation of the First Hermitage in San Diego, although it is known that in 1793 the new Hermitage was inaugurated, making the First Mass official on May 22 .
The benefits of the mineral-medicinal waters of the Spa were spreading rapidly over the years. As early as 1797 , the San Diego Baths were precisely cited in the ” Memoirs of the Recognition of the Western Part of Our Island .” Some years later in 1837 , the Baths were visited by Napoleon I’s physician , Dr. Antommarchi . In 1839 , Cirilo Villaverde included in his ” Excursion to Vuelta Abajo ” many personalities of the time who also visited the Baths.
The layout of the urban plan of San Diego was completed on June 7 , 1841 and was approved on January 2 , 1844 . In 1850 the first stone of the current Church was laid and the Town Hall was created by the Royal Order in 1866 .
Since 1841 , the boat trips from Batabanó to the mouth of the San Diego River began by the Company “Bustamante Cagigal y Cía” at the price of 16.74 gold pesos per person. The rest of the trip to San Diego was done in carriages escorted by the Civil Guard.
An important event occurred in 1853 when the Overseas Minister issued a communication informing that the Queen had approved the transportation, maintenance and free medical assistance to the solemn poor. By this date, several thousand patients attended the San Diego Baths annually. In 1891 the Regulations for the Post of Medical Director of the Mineral-Medicinal Waters of Cuba were promulgated , with Dr. Manuel Sabas Castellanos y Arango occupying the position .
Medicinal mining waters
The main sources used by the Spa are three. Two of them, “El Templado and El Tigre” work together with a flow of 9 to 10 liters per second that feed the system of collective and private pools. The third well, called “La Gallina, has a flow rate of 0.6 to 0.8 liters per second (51.84 to 69.12 cubic meters per day).
The waters are classified as sulphated-calcic, sulfhydric, thermal, radioactive with low mineralization and fluoridated. These waters by their chemical composition are remarkably similar to the waters of Piestani in Czechoslovakia .
The ideal hot springs
As we go deeper towards the center of the earth, every 10 meters the temperature increases by one degree. The waters with temperatures above 40 degrees (in San Diego they reach 47) are only located at depths of 400 meters. But the temperatures of the thermal waters of the spa are used below 40 degrees. Its pools have temperatures that range between 32 and 38 degrees, and are ideal for treating the pathologies that have made the center famous.
Mining-medicinal sludge
The sources of mud are located in the mouth of the San Diego River, 40 kilometers away and according to Bulgarian standards they are of good quality, supported by the experience of their therapeutic use in the Spa from 5 of February of 1985 , with the experience of more than 2,000 patients treated. The mud deposit has not been studied so its magnitude is unknown.
The Parafango
Parafango is a medicine composed of mineral-medicinal mud mixed with paraffin in an approximate dose of 50 percent. Its purpose is that the patient, once the spa treatment is finished, can continue their therapy at home.
The Parafango can be used at home without having to go to the healthcare center. The San Diego de los Baños Spa center offers treatments based on the use of sulfurized, sulphated, calcific mineral-medicinal waters – magnesian, bicarbonated, radioactive, siliceous, fluoridated, low mineralization (two grams per liter) and thermal waters, as well as liman-type mineral-medicinal sludge, which is extracted from the mouth of the San Diego River, with a high content of organic substances.
The therapeutic effects are achieved by combining physical-chemical and biological actions. On the one hand, the thermal factor, the mechanical component of the pressure on the treated area and the radioactivity with sedative, analgesic and stimulating effects of the enzymatic activity without harmful effects act as physical factors.
On the other hand, as the main chemical actions we have the presence of carbohydrates and amino and humic acids with an absorbent, detoxifying and anti-inflammatory effect compared to cotisone, without its secondary reactions. The sulfur present in the mud intervenes in the regeneration of chondroitin sulfate, an essential element in the restoration of damaged joint cartilage. The combination of these physicochemical actions accelerates the penetration of iron, hydrogen, calcium, magnesium and other trace elements through the skin.
The biological composition of the Peloids used includes vitamins mainly from the B and C complex, polyphenols, derived from the presence of algae and non-pathogenic bacteria that generate substances of high therapeutic value, nitrogen and carbon fixers, estrogenic hormones and folliculins.
Services provided
a) Physiotherapy: Mechanotherapy, electrotherapy, thermotherapy and rehabilitation service. b) Acupuncture c) HydrologyMassages
d) Therapeutic gymnasium e) Medical consultations f) Phytotherapy g) Balneology h) Clinical laboratory i) Pharmacy dispensary
The installed capacity allows treatment with medicinal mineral waters, operating at full capacity, in 8 hours of work, to more than 1,000 patients. In physiotherapy, you can respond to the needs of 400 patients in the same time. In treatment of peloids to 40 patients in 4 hours.
Research
There is a research plan based on:
- Mineral-medicinal waters and sludge with which clinical trials are carried out in different pathologies.
- Pharmaceutical formulations based on the previous resources and their clinical trials.
- Research with green medicine.
The main achievement is Parafango, which provides a new therapeutic option.