Global Markets
Home›Global Markets›Trade & Tariffs›Meliá will shut its Cuba hotel operations by end of we…
Meliá will shut its Cuba hotel operations by end of week
The company said US sanctions ordered under Donald Trump make it “impossible” to maintain even minimal operational stability across its 34 sites, and it plans a transition to reduce impacts on staff, suppliers, and clients.
Meliá Group said it will cease operations in Cuba by the end of the week, citing major difficulties doing business on the island as US pressure and sanctions increase, according to a statement shared with the Spanish stock market regulator.
The hotel operator said the latest US sanctions make it “impossible, de facto and de jure, to maintain even minimal operational stability,” and it plans a smooth transition aimed at reducing the impact on staff, suppliers, and clients.
Meliá noted that it had previously announced it would stop running 15 of its 34 Cuba hotels, and it did not detail in the statement what it would do with the remaining 19 hotels it operates in partnership with Cuba’s tourism ministry.
The move follows new sanctions ordered by US President Donald Trump in May, which target a broad set of individuals and threaten foreign banks and companies that work with them, the Guardian Business reported. The article also notes Washington has blocked all oil shipments to Cuba since January, with the exception of a single Russian ship.