For years, Cuba was one of the star destinations in the Caribbean for residents of the Balearic Islands. Its beaches, colonial heritage, culture, and close ties with Mallorcan tourism companies made it a regular choice for travel agencies. Today, however, the situation is very different. Vacation bookings to the island have plummeted, and the sector openly admits it no longer recommends it with the same confidence as before.

The history of Melià Hotels International in Cuba can only be understood within the economic shift experienced by the Caribbean island in the late eighties and early nineties. With the fall of the Soviet bloc between 1989 and 1991, Cuba loses its main economic support and enters the so-called Special Period, a stage of profound crisis marked by a lack of foreign currency, scarcity of basic products, and the collapse of a large part of productive activity.

The Mallorcan hotel chain Melià Hotels International has decided to immediately end the management, commercialization, and brand licensing services for 15 hotels in Cuba. The decision comes in a context marked by pressure from the United States on foreign companies operating on the island and after the Donald Trump administration set June 5 as the deadline to take measures against companies linked to business with the Cuban military conglomerate Gaeasa.

The Havana cemetery is full of tombs with very local surnames: Pujol, Roca, Moner, Ensenyat... They are the testimony of the Majorcans who in the 19th century left to 'make the Americas'. According to chronicles, in 1889 there were about 10,000 (4% of the population). Many from Andratx went to Cuba. Among them were the paternal and maternal grandparents of Rosa Calafat Vila, professor of Catalan Philology at the UIB. “In the eighties, during my youth – she says –, I dug into the oral memory of the municipality and I was pleasantly surprised. I discovered a large number of 'gloses' related to the Caribbean island”.

The lack of aviation fuel in Cuba has triggered a new crisis that is severely impacting the international tourism sector and, in particular, Spanish companies with a significant presence on the island. The Cuban government has warned airlines that it cannot guarantee kerosene supplies at the country's airports for weeks, a situation that has forced a reconfiguration of flight operations and accelerated adjustments in the hotel sector. The crisis is part of a serious energy emergency plaguing the country, with difficulties importing oil and its derivatives, which affects not only air transport but also the electricity supply and economic activity in general. Tourism, Cuba's main source of foreign currency, is once again in an extremely vulnerable position.