Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  The Spain-owned Meliá  Cohiba hotel across from  Malecón sea in Havana, Cuba

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

A court in Spain last week dismissed a lawsuit against Meliá Hotels International relating to operations in Cuba. The action by the Spanish court could have ramifications for the recently activated U.S. Helms-Burton Act. Descendants of former Cuban businessman Rafael Lucas Sanchez Hill  filed a lawsuit in Spain against the Meliá  that sought to recover $10 Million as indemnification for Cuba lands seized by the government in 1960, after Fidel Castro seized control of the island.  President Trump opened the door in May  for lawsuits over Cuban confiscated properties. The Trump administration announced then it is allowing former owners of commercial property expropriated by Cuba to sue companies and the Cuban government for using or “trafficking” in those confiscated holdings. This was the first lawsuit ever filed in Spain by Cuban Americans against Spanish companies that benefit from expropriated properties in Cuba.  The lawsuit followed the Trump administration’s full implementation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act on May 2.  According to the Spanish Court  Order, a court in Spain has no authority to determine whether the nationalization conducted by the Cuban state in 1960 was lawful or not.  According to the judge, in application of article 21 of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ), “the Spanish civil courts do not have jurisdiction to hear the claim that has given rise to this lawsuit” and since it is a property owned by a State “it also has jurisdictional immunity.”  The Order further stated that a Spanish Court is not competent to assess, among other things, whether the nationalization carried out  by the Cuban government in 1960 was legal or illegal.  Magistrate’s Court number 24 in Palma de Mallorca issued the Order.  Gabriel Escarrer, Vice President and CEO of Meliá,  explained in Spanish media reports the importance of the Court decision  is it is  not only  the first to be issued by a Court after the full activation of the Helms-Burton Act, but that according to international and Spanish law, “the Courts of another country are not in a position to review the legality of a law passed in Cuba in 1960 or the acts performed by a sovereign state in implementing that law.” 

1/2 The Spanish Courts have closed the case regarding the lawsuit against Meliá in Cuba, supporting in full the arguments raised by our company and conclusively stating that a Spanish Court

— Gabriel Escarrer (@GabrielEscarrer) September 5, 2019

The plaintiffs based their claim on the alleged illegitimate operation of hotels in Cuba on land which was nationalized under Law 890 in 1960 after the Cuban revolution in 1959. The hotels have been managed by Meliá  ever since the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Meliá Hotels International was advised by the international law firm Garrigues. 

Meliá  Cuba Operations Backed By The European Union

Spanish hostelry giant Meliá International is expanding its hotels in Cuba. Meliá has added 5 new hotels with a total of 409 rooms to its portfolio in the Caribbean island in the first quarter of 2018.  According to Meliá, the Spain-based hotel company will operate 2,145 new rooms in Cuba by the end of 2019 with plans for additional properties . 

Photo by  Gary Raynaldo /  Towering, gleaming luxury 401-room Meliá Cohiba Hotel located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba, just off the Malecón. The hotel opened in 1994. The hotel is a joint venture between Meliá International and the Cuban State.

Brussels Vows To Protect The Interests Of EU Companies Doing Business In Cuba.

“The decision by the United States to renege on its longstanding commitment to waive Title III of the Helms-Burton (LIBERTAD) Act is regrettable, and will have an important impact on legitimate EU and Canadian economic operators in Cuba. The EU and Canada consider the extraterritorial application of unilateral Cuba-related measures contrary to international law. “

-Joint statement by High Representative / Vice President Federica Moghernini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland, Apri. 17, 2019, Brussels. 

The decision by the Court in Spain is the first action taken by any European Court following the activation of the Helms-Burton Act.  The Plaintiffs that filed the action in Spain are expected to sue in the U.S. under Helms-Burton. 

Meliá Opens Latest hotel in Cuba

Spain’s Meliá Hotels International opened its latest property in Varadero, Cuba, Sept. 16, 2019.