Melia to Close 15 Hotels in Cuba

Spanish hotel operator Melia will stop managing 15 of the 34 hotels it runs in Cuba, according to a report published Wednesday on the state website Cubadebate. The decision was announced May 26, weeks after the United States expanded sanctions that freeze assets of foreign companies linked to GAESA, a conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The sanctions also bar those companies and their shareholders from the U.S. financial system. Melia cited corporate responsibility and external factors affecting the legality and security of the properties. The chain had operated about 14,000 rooms on the island through its partnership with GAESA subsidiary Gaviota.

Tourism numbers and other chains Tourist arrivals fell 48 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, government data show. Only 298,000 visitors arrived between January and March, down from 573,300. Canadian-owned Royalton and Spain’s Iberostar have also limited or suspended operations in Cuba in the past week.

On Wednesday the Royalton Paseo del Prado sign was removed from its Old Havana location, and the 500-room Iberostar Selection tower has remained closed. Airlines including World2Fly, Air France and Iberia have canceled flights to and from Cuba.

Payment systems and worker impact Cuba’s Central Bank said Wednesday that Visa and MasterCard operations on the island would be suspended after foreign entities ended ties with GAESA-linked agency FINCIMEX. Workers at the affected hotels said the closures would cut their income.

Driver Erich López, who has worked two decades ferrying tourists in a 1950s Dodge, said the change would affect families who rely on tourism pay. Parking attendant Carlos Luis Carbonel, 62, who works outside the Melia Cohiba in Havana, called the situation a blow to guides, attendants and hotel staff.

Several of the shuttered Melia properties in Varadero, Cayo Santa María and Jardines del Rey were already inactive because of energy shortages and weak demand, Cubadebate reported.