The lawyer and banking expert Alberto Luzárraga described the practice of European and Spanish companies operating in the Island under the mandatory state intermediation system as "odious investment" and "fraud." He asserted that in a free Cuba, those companies should be taken to court for exploiting the workers in their hotels.
Luzárraga explained that the hotel investment model on the island operates through state entities that act as intermediaries between foreign companies and workers, retaining most of the salary that these companies pay in foreign currency.
"There are many European and Spanish companies that have invested in the hospitality sector in Cuba, but that is a truly odious investment because they were doing so based on a system in which they were paying salaries below the international market rate," the expert stated.
According to Luzárraga, the harm falls directly on the Cuban worker: "The Cuban regime was already paying less than what they owed, but they were exploiting the Cuban worker because, as you know, they paid the majority of the salary to the government and a pittance to the Cuban worker."
The lawyer argued that this practice violates the United Nations Convention 80, which prohibits such practices in the context of foreign investments: "That intermediary takes part of the money, and the worker does not receive what belongs to him. So this is truly a fraud; they are defrauding the Cuban worker."
From a legal standpoint, Luzárraga was unequivocal: "In my opinion as a lawyer, all those contracts are null because they are made for a dishonest purpose. A dishonest purpose is intended to deceive a third party, and they hold no validity whatsoever."
The expert pointed directly to the Meliá Group as the most emblematic case of this model, being the largest foreign hotel operator on the island: "Mr. Meliá, who has been quite pleased filling his pockets with what he has done in Cuba, is a man who owes us, he owes money, he owes money to the Cuban people. He has cheated the Cuban worker to a very significant extent. He owes wages and he owes damages," he said.
The system described by Luzárraga is supported by Law 118 on Foreign Investment, which prohibits the direct hiring of Cuban workers and obliges foreign companies to operate through state employment entities linked to GAESA, the business conglomerate of the Cuban army.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights has reported Meliá, Iberostar, and Barceló for "feudal exploitation" and violation of International Labour Organization agreements, and has documented that Cuban workers in hotels of Spanish chains receive between 11 and 16 dollars per month in Cuban pesos, while the rooms are charged in foreign currency at international prices.
Luzárraga revealed that in the past he tried to bring this matter to the Spanish courts, without success: "I tried in Spain many years ago with some friends to address this issue and they filed a lawsuit, but it was dismissed and they didn't even consider it because there are too many interests at stake."
When asked directly whether, in a free Cuba, those companies would be taken to court, the lawyer did not hesitate: "Definitely, yes. I don't believe... Yes, yes, there has definitely been too much abuse."
The collapse of Cuban tourism worsens the situation: hotel occupancy fell to 21.5% in the first half of 2025, and at the Meliá Cayo Santa María hotel, employees had gone five months without a salary by March 2026, with debts of 17,000 Cuban pesos per person.
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