The Consulate of Spain in Cuba reported this Friday that as of July 1 it will begin charging its consular services in euros, only in cash and with the exact amount.
Services such as the preparation of passports will cost 30 euros (31.40 dollars at today’s exchange rate), visas 80 euros (83.73 dollars), legalizations 10 euros (10.47 dollars), among others, as detailed by the Consulate in your account On twitter.
Update of consular fees as of Friday, July 1, 2022:
Only in EUROS
Only in cash
Only the EXACT AMOUNT can be charged
Passports30 €
Visas €80
Legalizations10€
Compulsory €10
More info ?https://t.co/zCtZAoNmTU pic.twitter.com/1O6Fe0McXC– ConsEspLaHabana (@ConsEspLaHabana) June 17, 2022
The Spanish diplomatic representation did not explain the reason for the decision, which occurs a week after several Latin American embassies in Cuba announced the suspension of their consular services following a directive from the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC).
Instruction 1/2022 of the BCC establishes that they can charge for their consular services “in foreign currency or in Cuban pesos (CUP)”, as they themselves establish.
But this measure does not allow them to exchange the income from consular procedures invoiced in Cuban pesos into international currencies. The CUP cannot be converted in other countries.
The embassies and consulates that determine to charge the consular services in CUP, will only be able to “deposit the funds in an account in that currency,” warned the instruction, which ends a practice that has been habitual until now.
The BCC also indicated that “from the accounts in Cuban pesos of the embassies and consulates” it will not be possible to make “transfers to accounts in freely convertible currency, nor payments abroad.”
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The freely convertible currency (MLC) is a virtual currency valid only in Cuba and referenced to currencies, which has been used in the country since the end of 2019 and is valid in a network of stores selling food products, household appliances and other items.
The BCC’s decision was received critically by some embassies because it prevents them from transferring to their countries in foreign currency the money obtained in CUP as they did until now as consular collection for the services they provide.
The measure is related, according to various sources, to the difference between the official rate —from one dollar to 24 pesos— and the change in the informal market where the US bill currently costs about 100 CUP.
Meanwhile, the euro is officially exchanged at 27 pesos and in the informal market at 115 CUP.
The exchange of national to foreign currency at the official rate and the departure of these currencies from the country was disadvantageous for Cuba, these sources added.
