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More than 7,000 tourism workers may have been laid off in Cayo Santa María, Villa Clara, according to an anonymous complaint sent to Cibercuba by one of the affected individuals.
"We have been left in a state of absolute vulnerability, despite the Minister of Labor and Social Security stating in his public speeches that no one would be left unprotected," explains the whistleblower.
The interruption occurs, according to the source, after the military conglomerate Gaviota decided to close all the hotels in the destination (20 hotel facilities), with the sole exception of the Hotel Paradisus Los Cayos.
The hotels closed "following the cancellation of operations by Canadian airlines such as Sunwing, Air Canada, and Air Transat, which will continue to operate with a minimal influx of Latin American tourists, mainly Argentinians, through Copa airline."
In this way, the Human Resources departments of the hotels have been instructed to "apply 'job interruption' to all workers with indefinite cyclical contracts, leaving us without any type of salary protection," the whistleblower asserts.
"It is a 'flagrant violation of the Labor Code and the terrible injustice that has been committed against thousands of workers at the tourist destination Cayo Santa María,' laments this worker who requested to remain anonymous."
"This tourist destination is the livelihood of thousands of families in the region. We have no job alternatives because Cayo Santa María is an exclusive enclave of Gaviota; there is no space here for Mipymes or other forms of employment (...) We are caught in a limbo of uncertainty and need, while the regime, which boasts so much to the world about protecting the working class, turns its back on us," he concludes.
This week, an Argentine tourist reported that the hotel where she was staying in Cayo Santa María would close just one day after her arrival.
In a video published on February 15, 2026, the influencer explained that she arrived at the hotel Las Dunas, in Cayo Santa María, checked in, and was informed right there that the establishment will close this Monday.
"We are in Cuba and we have just been informed that our hotel will close tomorrow," she said at the beginning of the video.
The resort staff informed them that they should be in the lobby by 2:00 p.m. to be transferred to another hotel, although they had not yet confirmed which one it would be.
Mary stated that there were "very few people" at the tourist facility and that, due to low occupancy, they would gather guests from several hotels in the area into one.
He also mentioned that, during lunch, a worker explained to him that when a hotel closes, the employees are “sent directly home” and are left without work.
The creator stated that, despite being in a "super high season," there is very little tourism in Cuba. As an example, she mentioned that they traveled alone in the transportation from Havana to the cayo.
Relocations in Matanzas
This week it was also reported that workers in the Tourism sector in Matanzas are being reassigned to other areas and in their own residential neighborhoods.
This is a measure in response to the energy contingency that has led to the closure of hotels and difficulties in transportation from distant municipalities to the Hicacos Peninsula or to the provincial capital, as reported by Periódico Girón on Facebook.
The decision is implemented based on the identification of vacant positions in the municipal Employment Offices, where job offers are concentrated to place available personnel.
According to the publication, the relocation is due to two immediate factors: the closure of hotels and the inability to travel from more distant territories to the main hubs or centers, due to energy conditions.
In this scenario, tourism workers are being reorganized and reassigned to their locations to reduce travel and keep them connected to a job.
The director of Labor and Social Security for the province, Cándido Lázaro González Valera, explained that the process involves reviewing the available positions by municipality and presenting these options to workers who are unable to continue with their usual functions in Tourism due to current restrictions.
In that review, it was indicated that some vacancies previously considered alternatives "are no longer an option," which necessitates reorganizing the workforce towards other sectors.
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