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Meliá Hotels International announced on Wednesday the immediate suspension of its operations in 15 hotels in Cuba, in response to the ultimatum from the administration of Donald Trump for foreign companies to sever their ties with the military conglomerate GAESA before June 5.
The decision turns the Mallorca-based chain into the latest major foreign tourism operator to drastically reduce its presence on the island in response to the tightening of U.S. sanctions against companies controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces.
The company notified the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that its Portuguese subsidiary Ilha Bela is "immediately ceasing the provision of management and marketing services, as well as the licensing of its hotel brands" in 15 facilities linked to GAESA.
The affected hotels are:
- Grand Hotel Bristol Old Havana
- Innside Cathedral Havana
- Meliá Buena Vista
- Meliá Cayo Santa María
- Meliá Jardines del Rey
- Meliá Las Dunas
- Meliá Península Varadero
- Paradisus Los Cayos
- Paradisus Princesa Mar
- Paradisus Río de Oro
- Paradisus Varadero
- Sol Caribe Beach
- Sol Cayo Santa María
- Sol Río de Luna y Mares
- Sol Varadero Beach
According to the company, the economic impact will be limited because a large part of these facilities were either closed or operating partially due to the energy crisis and the decline in tourist demand in Cuba.
Meliá's exit is due to the risk of facing secondary sanctions from Washington for maintaining business relationships with entities linked to GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls a large part of the Cuban tourism sector.
The withdrawal comes after months of closures of some hotels due to the tourism crisis
The decision to abandon 15 hotels linked to GAESA comes just a few months after Meliá publicly acknowledged the operational difficulties it was facing in Cuba.
In February of this year, the Spanish chain confirmed the temporary closure of several establishments as part of a "streamlining" strategy for its hotel offerings, driven by fuel shortages, transportation issues for workers, and a sustained decline in tourist demand.
At that time, the company was managing 35 hotels on the island and stated that it had no plans to leave the Cuban market.
The company presented those closures as an operational measure to adjust the available capacity to the actual levels of occupancy, in a context marked by power outages, supply difficulties, and reduced international flights to Cuba.
Meliá has 20 active hotels in Cuba, according to its official website
Despite this withdrawal, the official Meliá Cuba website continues to offer reservations at least 20 hotels located in various provinces of the country.
The prices displayed on the platform this June 3rd are as follows:
| Hotel | Price from |
| Sol Hicacos Varadero | 102 USD |
| Sol Palmeras | 107 USD |
| Meliá Internacional Varadero | 111 USD |
| Meliá Las Antillas | 111 USD |
| Meliá Las Américas | 136 USD |
| Meliá Varadero | 116 USD |
| Meliá Trinidad Península | 108 USD |
| Sevilla Habana Affiliated by Meliá | 68 USD |
| Tryp Habana Libre | 34 USD |
| Meliá Cohiba | 78 USD |
| Meliá Habana | 78 USD |
| Meliá Costa Rey | 109 USD |
| Tryp Cayo Coco | 84 USD |
| Sol Cayo Coco | 84 USD |
| Meliá Cayo Coco | 136 USD |
| Meliá San Carlos | 59 USD |
| Jagua Affiliated by Meliá | 150 USD |
| La Unión Managed by Meliá Hotels International | 59 USD |
| Villas Cienfuegos Affiliated by Meliá | 59 USD |
| Meliá Santiago de Cuba | 41 USD |
The presence of these hotels on the booking platform suggests that the chain still maintains operations or commercial agreements in certain facilities that, at least for the moment, have not been affected by the decision communicated to the CNMV.
A sector hit hard by the energy crisis and sanctions
The partial exit of Meliá comes in the midst of a deep crisis in the Cuban tourism sector. At the beginning of the year, the chain itself acknowledged that several hotels had been temporarily closed due to a lack of fuel and operational limitations stemming from the national energy crisis. Industry sources indicated at that time that the adjustments particularly affected Varadero and the northern cays of the country, two of Cuba's main tourist destinations.
The situation worsened later with the reduction of operations by other hotel chains and international airlines. Now, U.S. sanctions against companies linked to GAESA add a new pressure factor on a sector that was already experiencing historic lows in visitors and low hotel occupancy rates.
Meliá's departure adds to a string of withdrawals from other companies in just a week. Notably, Iberostar ceased operations at 12 hotels in Cuba since June 1, although it still maintains a presence with six establishments not linked to GAESA.
The Canadian company Blue Diamond Resorts confirmed its exit on May 31, affecting 62 hotels and over 12,900 rooms. The airline Iberia suspended its flights between Madrid and Havana from June 1 until at least October 24.
GAESA controls a network of about 180 hotels managed in partnership with foreign groups, primarily Spanish and Canadian.
Meliá was the largest foreign operator on the island, with 33 hotels under long-term contracts with Gaviota, the tourism subsidiary of the military conglomerate.
Cuban tourism was already in free fall before this business exodus. In 2025, only 1.8 million international tourists arrived, the lowest number since 2002 and less than half of the peak of 4.7 million recorded in 2018.
The combination of blackouts, shortages, deterioration of tourist infrastructure, and increasing pressure from Washington on companies associated with GAESA threatens to further deepen the crisis of one of the country's main sources of foreign currency.
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