"Sounds good to me," stated Donald Trump in response to a social media post which jokingly suggested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could become president of Cuba. The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is hawkish when it comes to Cuba, just as he is with Venezuela, two markets where Mallorcan hotel chains are active.
For these companies operating in the region, the unpredictability of the Trump administration has put them on alert. Cuba is more important than Venezuela. They are involved with some 60 establishments in Cuba, 35 being managed by Meliá Hotels International, whose association with the island goes way back to relations fostered between the company's founder, Gabriel Escarrer Julià, and Fidel Castro.
Following the intervention in Venezuela, Trump let Cuba know that it should "make a deal before it's too late". Threats directed at Cuba raise the possibility that Washington will harden its policy toward Havana and prolong the strangulation of the island's last remaining avenues for economic survival.
As it is, the drop in international tourism to levels not seen in over a decade and the structural problems plaguing the Cuban economy have strained the results of these hotel companies. Further sanctions could affect the operational capacity of hotel chains and the very stability of business models.
The Mallorcan tourism industry is one of Spain's largest exporters of hospitality services. Cuba, other islands in the Caribbean, Mexico, South America (Colombia and Brazil in particular) are all key to this export. As well as Meliá, Iberostar is a big operator in Cuba (twenty hotels). The involvement of Barceló, Blau and Valentin is far more modest.
Meliá says it is continuing its operations in Cuba, "calmly and without significant disruptions". In fact, the company points to a "slight improvement" in business compared to the previous season. In Venezuela, with the five-star Gran Meliá Caracas, Meliá is waiting to see how the situation develops and is avoiding commenting on "political or geopolitical issues, as we always do in the 40 countries where we operate".
Albert Puig, communications director for Riu Hotels & Resorts, says the instability in Venezuela and US pressure on Cuba have not yet had a significant impact on the company's operations in the region. He emphasises the tourism sector's resilience, even in highly uncertain circumstances.
Despite the adverse political climate, "the flow of bookings to Caribbean destinations remains stable". The fact that Riu does not manage hotels in countries directly affected by the current situation - Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia - limits any direct impact on its operations. However, the temporary closure of regional airspace has caused some isolated disruption for certain European markets.
But the concern is palpable, Mallorcan hotel chains saying that they are paying much closer attention to the signals coming from Washington. Underlying this is the memory of how US migration and economic policies towards Cuba have impacted the arrival of travellers, especially Americans, and the operations of European chains that depend on stable flows of transatlantic tourism to sustain their investments in the region.