Spanish hotel chain Meliá is leaving Cuba because of legal and financial
hurdles from US sanctions
[July 22, 2026] By
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
HAVANA (AP) — The Spanish hotel chain Meliá said Tuesday it will
completely shutter its operations in Cuba, dealing a blow to the tourism
industry on the Caribbean island grappling with strict sanctions and an
energy blockade imposed by the United States.
A statement from the company said the decision, which will go into
effect on Friday, was due to “the significant operational, legal,
economic and financial difficulties that have persistently affected, and
continue to affect, the environment" in Cuba.
Cuba's tourism industry was formerly an engine of the country's economy.
Meliá's decision follows new sanctions announced by the U.S. on July 13
blacklisting Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism, the business partner of more
than a dozen hotels that the hotel chain still operated on the island.
The chain had previously suspended management of 15 hotels it operated
through an agreement with a tourism agency run by GAESA, a Cuban
military-business conglomerate that was sanctioned by the U.S. in May.
The company has now completely withdrawn its business from Cuba.
Meliá once owned 34 five-star hotels in Cuba, primarily in Havana, the
country's capital, and idyllic locations such as the Varadero resort and
the main keys. It was also a highly symbolic chain for the island,
following the opening of tourism in the Caribbean nation after the
collapse of the Soviet Union more than 35 years ago.
U.S. measures against companies operating in Cuba include freezing their
assets and seizing their accounts in the U.S. — meaning they can no
longer operate in the U.S. financial market — and also travel bans for
their shareholders, investors and employees.
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An antique car drives past the Melia Habana Hotel in Havana, Cuba,
Tuesday, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
 The U.S. ramped up pressure on the
island following the capture of Venezuela's then-President Nicolás
Maduro in January, seeking the fall of the Cuban government and
changes to its political and economic model. It also implemented an
energy embargo that has exacerbated a pre-existing crisis.
The result has been daily blackouts lasting more
than 20 hours, medicine shortages pushing the healthcare system to
the brink, a collapsed water supply and paralyzed transportation.
Meliá’s departure demonstrates the resounding impact of U.S.
President Donald Trump’s policies, which are “methodically and
systematically closing every source of foreign currency for the
Cuban government,” Paolo Spadoni, an associate professor in the
Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University in Georgia, told
The Associated Press.
Tourism has plummeted with the withdrawal of major chains — such as
the Spanish Iberostar and the Canadian Royalton — as well as the
cancellation of flights to Cuba by airlines like World2Fly, Air
France and Iberia.
In this year's first trimester, tourism arrivals in Cuba are down
48% compared to the same period in 2015, totaling just 298,000.
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