The Spanish government acknowledged before the Congress of Deputies that Cuban legislation prevents it from directly hiring local staff for its Consulate in Havana, forcing it to rely on a state employment agency, a system that Madrid claims to have been using since 2017.
The admission appears in a parliamentary response dated September 23, 2026, in which the Executive defended its hiring of the Palco Business Group, a Cuban state-owned company.
Spain awarded Palco two contracts totaling 1,374,039.16 euros to supply workers to the Consulate General and the Spanish Embassy in Havana. Both procedures were concluded with a single bid and without reductions on the initial budgets.
The highest value contract, corresponding to the Consulate General of Spain in Havana, amounts to 1,131,295.68 euros. It was awarded by the Undersecretariat of Foreign Affairs on December 12, 2024, under file number 2024SWs00114.
The second contract, identified with the file number 2024SWs00113, pertains to the Spanish Embassy in Cuba. It was awarded on December 10, 2024, for 242,743.48 euros, also to Palco and with a single bid.
The amounts correspond to the value of the awards and do not imply that the entire sum of money has been disbursed.
The obligation recognized by the Spanish government
In its response to Congress, the Executive defended that the contract was awarded in accordance with Spanish legislation and that the use of a Cuban state company is in compliance with a requirement set forth by the authorities on the Island.
The explanation was provided in response to a parliamentary question posed by deputies of the Popular Party.
As a basis, the Government cited Decree Law 384 of 2019, which regulated the hiring of workers to provide services to foreign representations.
According to the Executive, diplomatic and consular representations could not hire local staff directly, but were required to enlist the services of an authorized Cuban employment company.
Madrid explained that this procedure had been in use since 2017.
The official response justifies the need to hire through an employer entity, although it does not explain why Palco was the selected company or whether there were other authorized entities that could provide the same service.
Cuba changed the law, but maintained the requirement for consulates
On October 2, 2026, just nine days after the response from the Spanish government, Cuba published a new regulation that modified the conditions for hiring workers in certain foreign representations.
The Decree Law 137/2026 expressly repealed Decree Law 384 of 2019, mentioned by Madrid in its parliamentary response.
The new regulations allow foreign commercial representations to hire their workers directly or continue using authorized employer entities.
However, diplomatic and consular missions were excluded from that possibility.
Article 2 of the new regulation states that the hiring of personnel for administrative, technical, or service roles in embassies and consulates must be conducted through employer entities authorized by the Cuban Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Therefore, the reform does not eliminate labor intermediation for the Consulate of Spain in Havana, although it also does not state that Palco is the only entity authorized to supply workers to it.
What roles do the employees of Palco perform?
The hiring process becomes particularly significant due to the volume of nationality applications processed in Havana.
According to the data published by the Spanish Government in September 2025, the Consulate General in Cuba had received 107,338 nationality applications under the Democratic Memory Law, commonly referred to as the Grandchildren's Law, which represents 12.24% of the applications counted up to the first half of that year.
In its parliamentary response, the Government assured that the workers provided by Palco perform administrative, technical, and auxiliary support functions, under the direction and supervision of the Spanish consular officials.
It also specified that they do not exercise powers reserved for public officials nor participate in decisions regarding civil registry files, passports, or visas.
Regarding access to information, the Executive noted that permissions to consult documentation and information systems are limited to service needs and are subject to authorization, supervision, and traceability mechanisms.
He added that workers must comply with confidentiality and data protection obligations.
The response, however, does not specify which categories of documents contracted employees through Palco can access, nor does it detail the specific permissions for accessing consular systems.
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