The Court of First Instance number 24 of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, again filed the lawsuit of the Sánchez Hill family against the chain of that country Meliá Hotels International and its Cuban partner, the state company Gaviota, for the operation of two hotels on the island.
According to advancement the newspaper Expansionis the second time that said court dismissed the demandin which the Cuban family claims compensation for the operation of the Paradisus Rio de Oro and Sol Rio and Luna Mares hotels after alleging that they occupied land confiscated from their ancestors after the Revolution in 1959.
The claim had been initially filed by the Spanish justice in September 2019, on the grounds of the lack of jurisdiction of the aforementioned court, review the website hosteltur.
Meliá: the lawsuit for two of its hotels in Cuba, filed again https://t.co/dLwkPnrMmP
— hosteltur (@hosteltur) February 2, 2023
The Sanchez Hills filed their claim with the Spanish courts after US President Donald Trump reactivated Title III of the Helms–Burton lawwhich allows nationalized Americans and Cubans to claim compensation in US courts for assets confiscated after 1959.
Cuba confiscated land from the company Santa Lucía Company SA and from the Sánchez Hermanos civil society, whose activity was linked to the exploitation of sugar cane in Playa Esmeralda, located north of the current province of Holguín.
The Spanish hotel company with its headquarters on the Balearic island of Majorca obtained an authorization from Cuba to exploit the land, which currently belongs to the company Gaviota SA, property of the Cuban State.
The acting judge on this occasion declared that the court does not have jurisdiction to hear the confiscation of both hotels, since it was a sovereign act carried out by Cuba through its own laws, the note added.
The court does not value the lack of international jurisdiction, since the lack of jurisdiction is enough to archive the procedure, which sets a precedent for future claims against hotel companies that operate in Cuba.
When it dismissed the lawsuit for the first time, the court stated that Spain did not have the competence to resolve lawsuits over real estate located outside its territory.
Spanish court archives lawsuit against Meliá for two hotels in Cuba
However, according to the report, there was the possibility of appeal and the Sánchez Hill family appealed this file before the Court of Palma, which upheld the appeal and ordered the court to reopen the case.
Meliá filed a response and the Sánchez Hills expanded their claim later. Finally, the court has filed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, although the judge’s decision is appealable before the Provincial Court of Palma.
In December 2022, according to Expansionthe Cuban company Gaviota, he appeared in the court of Palma de Mallorca to request that the lawsuit be filed due to lack of jurisdiction of the court.
