The Cuban consul general in Barcelona has seriously misrepresented the truth on his first trip to Mallorca, where he has assured that the island has returned to its pre-pandemic tourist levels. Alejandro Castro Medina, formerly responsible for the Andalusian consulate and replacement since after the summer of Alain González in the Catalan capital, is for the first time in the Balearic Islands, which belongs to his jurisdiction, and where he tries to promote businesses in the food and energy sectors, but above everything in tourism, where the largest island of the Mediterranean archipelago has already had interests for years through the Meliá, Iberostar, Barceló, Blau, Valentín and Roc hotels, among others.
The consul began his trip to the Balearic capital, Palma, on Wednesday, where he gave two interviews to the main local media, Majorca Newspaper Y Last minute. The interviewer of the latter he expressly asked if Cuba has “returned to pre-pandemic tourist levels”. “Yes”, the consul answers exhaustively, who then adds that health security is also offered. The question could hardly be construed as a supply recovery question, so Castro Medina’s simple yes reflects a return to 2019 arrivals data that is far from reality.
The question could hardly be construed as a supply recovery question, so Castro Medina’s single yes reflects a return to 2019 arrivals data that is far from reality.
In 2019, Cuba received 4.2 million international visitors, below the forecast it had that year after the 4.7 million in 2018, but well above that of this 2022, when there were no longer restrictions due to the pandemic. . The Island, which started the year aspiring to have 2.5 million tourists, had to lower the forecast to 1.7 in September and it stayed at just over 1.3 million, in the absence of knowing the data for December.
In his interviews, the consul in Barcelona wanted to highlight the “security” of the Island as one of his strong claims. “Cuba has always been safe and we work to have a healthy tourism. Our location is ideal for drugs, but there is none. We are not aware of this phenomenon, nor of prostitution, trafficking in minors and organs, or the organized mafia. That It does not mean that there are drug addicts and prostitutes. Before the Revolution, Cuba was misery, racism, prostitution and game rooms. It was not for nothing that a revolution was made,” he spits.
Majorca Newspaper, Who did you do a video interview with?, asked Castro Medina an uncomfortable question to which he responded dismissively. “How do you reconcile a business as capitalist as tourism with a government as socialist as the Cuban one?” says the journalist.
“I don’t know why you call tourism capitalist. Tourism is tourism, period. I don’t think it corresponds to any system,” the consul replied, then returned to spread out in the security and tranquility that is experienced in the Island, which also, he says, favors a “beautiful” natural environment that he compares to the Mediterranean.
The consul has indicated that tourism is a priority for Cuba because, among other things, it is a sector of immediate liquidity, something that the island needs for its recovery
The consul has indicated that tourism is a priority for Cuba because, among other things, it is a sector of immediate liquidity, something that the island needs for its recovery. In addition, he adds, since the fall of the Soviet Union, the island’s authorities have bet on him because of the speed of his results without being incompatible with the Cuban social project. “And so far tourism has not been contradictory,” he argues, although the island’s citizens have long denounced the priority given to tourists, leaving nationals as second-class citizens.
The consul has also taken the opportunity to charge against the embargo, which he considers a matter of “human rights.” “They are killing a people because they seek to create misery and discontent. And it is not a will of the American people, but of their government,” he affirms. A good part of his speech was to demand that Americans be allowed to travel freely to the Island.
“I wish the citizens of the United States would be given permission to do tourism in Cuba, because there would be millions, they are the closest tourists we have. And that also makes it possible for us to get to know Cuba. Each tourist is an ambassador of the truth about Cuba, of the truth that he sees, not the one that we tell him. For us, tourism is not only an economic issue, which is also a super important line, but it is also a means for our truth to be conveyed,” he adds.
Castro Medina recites a series of benefits of the Island, achieved in his opinion despite the blockade, such as high life expectancy, vaccines, or a police force that “doesn’t go down the street armed”, but the journalist asks about the censorship of Internet. “Subversion in Cuba is carried out through the Internet. In all the countries of the world, when there is a critical situation, they intervene the same way,” he justifies. And then he added: “We are willing to do anything to defend the Revolution, which was made by the people with Fidel Castro at the head.”
“I have also met with people from the Popular Party (conservatives), although we do not agree on many things,” he points out, to emphasize that ties with Spain can be broken under “no circumstances”
The consul, who was invited by Esquerra Unida Illes Balears (EUIB) and the Communist Party of Spain to a meeting, has affirmed that his relations with this party are strong, historical and of brotherhood, but not only with both parties, with which He maintains a clear ideological affinity. “I have also met with people from the Popular Party (conservatives), although we do not agree on many things,” he points out, to emphasize that ties with Spain can be broken under “no circumstances.”
Castro Medina’s visit came just two days after the meeting in Palma between the Cuban Tourism Minister, Juan Carlos García Granda, and his business director, José Alberto Pérez Lazo, who on Tuesday met with businessmen in the Chamber of Comercio de Mallorca to continue intensifying investment opportunities in the sector.
“We met in Mallorca because its tourism industry is internationally recognized and has close historical ties with Cuba. Our goal is to strengthen collaboration with Mallorcan businessmen, increasing the presence of operators in the sector in our country. After the challenges posed by the pandemic in the tourism sector in recent years, we are focused on recovery and we want to have reliable experts and partners to continue developing and improving tourism in Cuba,” said García Granda, who traveled to Spain to attend the Fitur Tourism Fair , which is held in Madrid from Wednesday.
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