The Consul General of Spain in Havana, José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solorzano, defended the exemption of Schengen visas for Cuban citizens who wish to travel to Spain and other member countries of the Treaty.
“I have no doubt that, if the [visa] exemption in relation to Cuba is raised in the Schengen visa forums, Spain will defend and promote it,” the diplomat stated this Friday in statements to the portal.Chronicles of Emigration.
Asked if he considered that Cubans should have the opportunity, like other citizens of Latin American countries, to travel to Spain and other European countries in the Schengen area without needing a visa, Pérez-Solorzano expressed himself in favor of the idea.
Schengen visas “are visas common to all the countries that make up this free movement area and, therefore, it is a decision that is adopted jointly,” said the diplomat.
“Spain has been a great defender of the visa exemption for our brother countries in Latin America when this issue has been introduced on the agenda,” explained the official from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while considering that his country would be at Please include Cuban citizens on that list.
Argentina, Panama, Mexico and Brazil, among fifteen countries in the region, are some of those that have reached agreements with the European Union and the countries of the Schengen area so that their citizens can travel without the need for visas. Beyond the statements of the consul general, it is unknown if Cuba is carrying out any negotiations with the EU countries in this regard.
Likewise, the Consul General of Spain in Cuba was asked about the measures that the Consulate is taking in the face of the expected increase in travelers and tourist visas to Spain once the travel restrictions implemented by the COVID pandemic are lifted. 19.
Pérez-Solorzano hoped that the time would come when visas for short stays, tourism and family visits, among others of a professional nature, could be issued again. “It would be a magnificent sign of recovery of normality,” he highlighted.
“At that point, our plan is to temporarily reinforce the visa section with staff from other sections in order to address that desire to travel that in Cuba, as elsewhere, has been fueled during this long year of mobility restrictions.” , he added.
Likewise, Pérez-Solorzano highlighted the effort made by diplomatic and contract staff at the Consulate to keep the offices open to the public during the pandemic since their reopening was authorized on October 13. Since then, they have worked with the purpose of meeting the needs of Cuban citizens who were unable to carry out in-person consular procedures for six months.
The rigorous protocol imposed in the offices and the hygienic-sanitary measures implemented (capacity control, separation screens, hydroalcoholic gel dispensers, temperature taking of all employees and users of the Consulate), have allowed the offices to handle the procedures pending resolution.
"Additionally, since last February we have doubled our passport issuance capacity, with a new, larger office in which there are four data collection stations and which will have a fifth station before June," he said. .
“As a result of this effort, in the last six months, we have issued more than 13,000 passports, almost 200 passports daily,” added Pérez-Solorzano, highlighting the distribution mechanism of passports granted through our Honorary Vice Consulates, as well as the development of applications for online consultation of nationality files corresponding to law 36 (seniors), “a demand that our users have been reiterating in the past.”
The Consul General of Spain in Havana also referred to the process of acquiring Spanish nationality linked to the Historical Memory Law.
“In relation to the nationality files, I hope that in the third quarter of this year we will have concluded the file of the Historical Memory Law, which will have involved qualifying almost 200,000 files in the last 11 years,” he reported.
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