Santa María is a key of 21.4 square kilometers located in the middle portion of the Jardines del Rey archipelago (Sabana-Camagüey), north of the central region of Cuba and belonging to the municipality of Caibarién. It is internationally renowned for the beauty of its natural environment and the existence of numerous high-standard hotels. Together with its similar Ensenachos, Las Brujas, Francés and Cobos, among many others (around 500), it is part of the insular subsystem Cayos de la Herradura, being the most biologically and superficially important of them all. It is linked to the island of Cuba in the vicinity of Caibarién, - together with the keys Las Brujas, Ensenachos, Majá and Español de Adentro -, by a 48 kilometers long causeway, which deserved the international award Puente de Alcántara to the best Latin American civil work in attention to the special care of the environment in its layout and execution. <br>