Melia Hotels’ victory over exiled Cuban company
A Spanish court in Spain has thrown out a case against Melia hotels lodged by an exiled Cuban company, Central Santa Lucia, which claimed the Spanish-based hotel chain was operating on its land illegally seized by the Cuban government after the revolution in 1959.
Central Santa Lucia, which is now based in the US, said that prior to 1960 it owned the land in Playa Esmeralda, on Cuba’s north-east coast, where Melia has managed two hotels, the Sol R-o y Luna Mares and Paradisus Rio de Oro hotels (above), since the early 1980s and 1990s.
It claims the land was unlawfully nationalised by the Cuban government and accused Melia of ‘unlawful enrichment’.
However, the court in Palma said it was not within the jurisdiction of the Spanish courts to determine whether nationalisation by a foreign state was illegal.
It ordered Central Santa Lucia to pay all costs in the case against Melia.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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