Catholic magazine folds for lack of funding.

The alternative Catholic magazine Espacios, one of the few independent publications in Cuba's mostly state-run media market, is closing after eight years because it has run out of funding and local church support.

Espacios had survived eight years on donations from church groups in Germany, Mexico and elsewhere. Most contributors work for free, with a few full-time staffers receiving modest salaries.

"We don't have the money to keep going," Joaquin Bello, director and founder of Espacios, told AP. "We've gone looking for funding in many places, but nothing has come up."

It cost Bello $1,400 every three months to print 4,000 copies. The magazine touched on topics that are often rarely expressed in Cuban society, such as the island's electricity crisis and criticism of abortion, which is common in Cuba.