Madrid/The Balearic Islands live attentive to American time. The Mallorcan tourism sector, which set its sights on Cuba more than 30 years ago, is experiencing its most difficult days since the US oil blockade began to put in check the very survival of the Island’s system. The slogan, however, is clear: “We have no intention of abandoning Cuba,” sources from the main groups involved said. Mallorca Diary. The media directly points to Miguel Fluxá, president of the Iberostar group, as a businessman personally involved in the decision to remain, although he is not the only one.
“Nor would the late Gabriel Escarrer Julià have done it,” the note emphasizes, although the person who actually endorses this decision is his son, Gabriel Escarrer Jaume, CEO of the Spanish hotel company Meliá. And that from the Balearic island it is assumed that he is the one who risks the most.
“Whoever has a really big brown is Meliá,” they say from World2Fly, the Iberostar airline that this Tuesday joined to Iberia and Air Europa in his decision to continue traveling to the Island. Escarrer’s group has taken advantage of the Government’s “compaction” plan and has closed three hotels – for now – of the 35 it manages in Cuba. According to the company itselfis an operational decision “based strictly on occupancy levels” with the objective of optimizing resources and with the priority of guaranteeing the best service and experience to customers.
“Whoever has a really big brown is Meliá,” they say from World2Fly, the Iberostar airline that this Tuesday joined Iberia and Air Europa in its decision to continue traveling to the Island.
The Iberostar group, which manages more than 20 hotels on the Island, is also trembling. According to the note Mallorca Diarythe sector speculates about what will happen to the two Spanish companies in the framework of the alleged talks between the US and the Cuban leadership, and they are not entirely sure: “I don’t think they will take away their hotels, maybe some…”, they suspect.
Despite a panorama of total uncertainty, which is added to the collapse in the numbers of international travelers in previous years, the determination is even striking. “Given the notification issued by the Cuban authorities warning of the unavailability of aviation fuel at the country’s international airports during the next month, W2Fly has made the decision to continue,” the company said.
Since yesterday, Wednesday, its flights from Havana to Madrid stop in Santo Domingo to refuel “maintaining commercial operations with total normality and the sale of tickets through the website“. The airline has two weekly routes and, for now, does not plan to cancel the decision to open, on May 30, a new weekly frequency that will link Lisbon with Varadero.
And Portugal, the information maintains, has turned out to be an unexpectedly attractive market. The Barceló company, which has two hotels in a “desert Varadero” – in the words of the editor herself – claims to continue its activity with complete normality, although a year ago one of its directors expressed his displeasure because tourism in Cuba was not improving. “Cuba has everything to be a great destination; we would like to see its tourism take off, which unfortunately is not happening,” he said in an interview in March 2025, when the drama had not yet manifested itself in all its splendor.
Its airline, Iberojet, has not flown to Cuba from Spain since 2024, but it does travel from Lisbon between the months of March and October. The destination is sold within its travel operator Ávoris, based in Madrid, which claims to remain on the lookout for these flights, but is optimistic. Without knowing the complete data for the end of 2025, the latest quarterly report from the National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei) indicated that, until September, the number of Spaniards who traveled to Cuba fell by 27%, while the Portuguese only did so by 8%. With that figure, it is the country from which the fewest tourists were lost last year, an achievement in the current situation.
“Our intention is not to abandon Cuba, because it is a destination that clients demand,” they say. The idea is also to make this technical stop to refuel outside the Island.
“Our intention is not to abandon Cuba, because it is a destination that clients demand,” they say. The idea is also to make this technical stop to refuel outside the Island.
The note mentions other Mallorcan chains with less weight, such as Roc, Valentin Hotels and Blau, with three hotels in Cuba each. “We are in a impasse, seeing how it evolves day by day. Our first market is Canada,” a source from one of the companies told Mallorca Diary. It is one of the nationalities that contributes the most tourists, by far, to Cuba – half of the 1.8 million international travelers in 2025 were Canadians – but now all airlines have canceled their flights. However, the source becomes less important in the immediate period of time.
“There are no more planes arriving from Canada, but there is not going to be an urgent evacuation. Canadian tourists will return to their country at the rate they finish their vacation packages. In general, the few travelers who are in Cuba in this high season for the destination prefer to use up their vacations. And it is already known that Canadians are very attached to the country. The atmosphere in the hotels is good,” said the source.
Spanish hotel companies have shown surprising faith in Cuba and, specifically Meliá, the largest, has not suffered for it. The company began its journey 35 years ago, sponsored by Fidel Castro himself –which stopped understanding tourism as a threat and focused on capturing the foreign currency it provided during the Special Period– and although in the last five years the business has plummeted in Cuba, the company profits give enough like to hold on. Nobody knows if they are waiting for better times, since the hotel company has never responded to the contact attempts it has made. 14ymedio for different issues.
