{"id":2340,"date":"2026-06-03T22:05:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T22:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2340"},"modified":"2026-06-03T22:05:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T22:05:29","slug":"spanish-hotel-chain-melia-to-shutter-hotels-in-cuba-in-latest-blow-to-islands-tourism-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2340","title":{"rendered":"Spanish hotel chain Meli\u00e1 to shutter hotels in Cuba in latest blow to island\u2019s tourism sector"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

HAVANA (AP) \u2014 Spanish hotel chain Meli\u00e1 has joined a growing list of companies with a long-standing presence in Cuba that are withdrawing or limiting their operations on the island after the U.S. announced new sanctions while upholding an oil embargo.<\/p>\n

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Meli\u00e1 will cease operations at 15 of the 34 hotels it manages on the island, according to state website Cubadebate, dealing a blow to Cuba\u2019s vital tourism sector, which has plummeted since its 2018 peak.<\/p>\n

The report on Wednesday stated that Meli\u00e1\u2019s decision was based on \u201ca sense of corporate responsibility and external factors that have significantly affected the operation, legality and security of these establishments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision was announced May 26, just weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding sanctions against the island. Most of the sanctions targeted Grupo de Administraci\u00f3n Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, with the U.S. asserting it was a threat to its national security.<\/p>\n

Meli\u00e1 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The executive order freezes the assets of foreign companies, seizes their accounts in the United States and prohibits travel by their shareholders, investors and employees\u2014 virtually eliminating their activity in the U.S. financial system.<\/p>\n

GAESA, a Cuban conglomerate created in the 1990s, owns a wide range of businesses, from car rentals and retail stores to transportation companies. It is Meli\u00e1\u2019s partner in hotel management through one of its subsidiaries, Gaviota.<\/p>\n

Meli\u00e1 deals new blow to Cuba\u2019s crumbling tourism sector<\/h3>\n

Meli\u00e1 is one of Cuba\u2019s most important partners in its vital tourism sector. Until its partial withdrawal, it operated some 14,000 rooms.<\/p>\n

Spanish and Canadian firms are the biggest investors in Cuba\u2019s hotel sector, noted Lee Schlenker, a research associate at the Quincy Institute\u2019s Global South program, a Washington think tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the lack of international tourism, the fuel shortages, and just the broader decline since COVID\u2026I\u2019m sure that these companies will be rethinking their operations in Cuba with major implications for the people of Cuba, not just GAESA,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are thousands of Cubans who work in these hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several of the hotels that Meli\u00e1 abandoned in idyllic destinations like the resorts of Varadero, Cayo Santa Mar\u00eda and Jardines del Rey \u201cwere already closed and inactive due to energy problems and the drop in demand in Cuba,\u201d according to Cubadebate.<\/p>\n

Cuba\u2019s government has blamed the U.S. energy blockade for prolonged blackouts, water shortages, supply problems, deficiencies in the healthcare system and disruptions in all aspects of daily life.<\/p>\n

Those who work in Cuba\u2019s crumbling tourism sector lamented Meli\u00e1\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to affect us, our families, and everyone involved in tourism. Our pay and income depend on this,\u201d said Erich L\u00f3pez, a driver of a green 1950s Dodge who has been driving for two decades to support his family.<\/p>\n

For Carlos Luis Carbonel, a 62-year-old parking attendant who works in front of the giant Meli\u00e1 Cohiba hotel in Havana, the situation \u201cis going to be a blow.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is terrible for everyone: for tour guides, for parking attendants, for hotel workers, for everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other major hotel chains including Canadian-owned Royalton and Spain\u2019s Iberostar have limited or suspended operations in Cuba in the past week.<\/p>\n

Tourism in Cuba, which reached a peak of 4.3 million visitors in 2019, saw a significant drop in the number of tourists arriving in the first quarter of this year, 48% lower than in the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n

Only 298,000 tourists arrived in Cuba in January, February and March, compared to 573,300 international visitors during the same period last year, according to government data.<\/p>\n

Cuba struggles to breathe<\/h3>\n

On Wednesday, the enormous and iconic sign of the Royalton Paseo del Prado hotel at the entrance of Old Havana was removed, as confirmed by The Associated Press during a visit. Meanwhile, the 500-room Iberostar Selection \u2014 also known as Tower K \u2014 the most modern and luxurious of the hotels slated to open in 2025, standing over 150 meters (490 feet) tall, has remained closed for days.<\/p>\n

Airlines including World2Fly, Air France and Iberia have canceled flights to and from Cuba.<\/p>\n

Also on Wednesday, Cuba\u2019s Central Bank announced that Visa and MasterCard operations on the island would be suspended following the termination of relationships between foreign entities and FINCIMEX S.A., a Cuba-based agency affiliated with GAESA.<\/p>\n

Last month, Canadian miner Sherritt International Corp. signed a non-binding agreement with Gillon Capital LLC, a family office linked to a former Trump adviser, to sell its stake in a mining business in Cuba.<\/p>\n

In late January, Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba, as his administration pressures for a change in its political system and government. The move has deepened a crisis caused by seven decades of U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n

While U.S. and Cuban officials held talks earlier this year, tensions have risen. In late May, former President Ra\u00fal Castro was charged in a U.S. indictment for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 in Cuban waters.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/p>\n

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