Meliá lowers the blinds of 15 hotels in Cuba due to Donald Trump's pressures

MadridMeliá Hotels International, through its Portuguese subsidiary Ilha Bela, has decided to close 15 of its hotels in Cuba following pressure from the Donald Trump Administration. Specifically, the Spanish hotel chain owned by the Escarrer family has announced the cessation of "the provision of management and marketing services, as well as the assignment of the use of its hotel brands in Cuba" for 15 of its assets in the country, as reported this Wednesday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Meliá's departure occurs just one day after the hotel chain Iberostar announced the same measure, ceasing operations at 12 of its 18 hotels on the island. Friday, June 5th is the date set by the White House for foreign hotel companies operating assets owned by Gaesa, the Cuban military conglomerate, to cease their operations. Failure to do so will expose them to heavy economic sanctions from the United States, which would consider them to be collaborating with the Cuban government.