Translating Cuba

During the processing of the regulation, it was speculated that a sworn statement would replace the need to provide such records, but an opinion from the Council of State advised against it, so the situation has been resolved in an intermediate way. The applicant must request the certificate from the country of origin and be able to prove that they have done so, but if they do not receive it within a month, there is an alternative. They can submit proof of the request and a sworn statement, as well as authorize Spain to carry out the process through diplomatic channels.

If a person chooses this pathway, which is contained in Additional Provision 20, settlement for asylum seekers, it is mandatory to formally withdraw the asylum application. In return, immediate work authorization is granted, unlike the previous procedure, which required waiting six months without a response (a deadline almost always reached due to the volume of cases) to obtain permission for self-employment or employment by others. This authorization lasts one year, after which the applicant can apply for ordinary residence.

The other pathway — Additional Provision 21, extraordinary settlement — is very similar, although it is more universal in nature and is intended for those who arrived in Spain irregularly without having requested international protection. The measure also applies to those who were in the country before January 1, 2026, have been there for five months at the time of application, have no criminal record with the same rules applying if the country of origin does not provide it within a month, and are of legal age. In addition, they must demonstrate one of the three situations specified by law.

The other pathway, Additional Provision 21, extraordinary settlement, is very similar, although it is more universal in nature and is intended for those who arrived in Spain irregularly without having requested international protection

One is having worked in Spain, having a job offer or a self-employment project, which must be declared in a specific document. Another is having minor children, adult children with disabilities, or dependent parents. The last is proof of vulnerability through a report from social services or authorized private organizations of the same type.

In this case, immediate authorization to work is also granted from the start of the process for a period of one year, after which it must be converted into ordinary residence. If no response is received within three months, the application is considered denied.

A point of common interest for both pathways is that applications can be submitted simultaneously, so that in a family, all members — spouse, partner, and cohabiting children of an applicant — can submit their applications at the same time and must receive a response simultaneously.

The regulation also specifies what can be done if ordinary residence is not obtained within a year, for example in the absence of a work contract. Affected individuals may request a one-year extension if they can prove they are actively seeking employment through registration with the state public employment service, or submit a report demonstrating integration efforts, a document prepared by authorized regional bodies in which knowledge of official languages will be taken into account. For more serious cases, such as if the applicant becomes seriously ill, acquires a disability, or reaches retirement age, there will be extraordinary extensions of four years.

The Royal Decree was published this Wednesday in the Official State Gazette, which means it comes into force this Thursday. From that day, applicants can request an appointment online to begin the process, the most recommended option, although it can also be done at post offices, Social Security offices, and immigration offices to be designated.

The deadline ends on June 30, and some organizations have expressed concern to the press about the fact that the documents are not yet available on the website. “We spend the whole day checking the ministry’s website to see if the forms we will have to fill out are being published,” Mónica López, general director of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), told El País.

The measure has sparked broad debate in Spain, as it is opposed by the main opposition parties (PP, Vox, and the Catalan nationalist party Junts), which asked for it to be halted in Congress. The rest of the parties support the measure, including the Basque regionalist right, which, although it has described it as “opportunistic,” believes it will facilitate the labor integration of hundreds of thousands of workers who are currently in the informal economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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Also heading to Cienfuegos since the Anatoly Kolodkin set sail, after unloading the crude it carried on April 4, are two tankers from Matanzas, even though it is much farther away, at 125 nautical miles (more than 230 kilometers). One is the Vilma, under Cuban flag, which, according to Piñón’s data based on its draft, received from the Russian vessel “a ship-to-ship transfer” of 414,000 barrels and arrived at the Cienfuegos refinery on April 8.

The other is the Nicos I.V. – under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines- which, the University of Texas expert estimates, carries 227,000 barrels of Urals crude and is currently located off Cape San Antonio, in Pinar del Río. The remaining 109,000 barrels needed to complete the 750,000 brought by the Anatoly Kolodkin may be aboard some of the other Cuban tankers moored in Matanzas: the María Cristina, the Lourdes, and the Alicia.

The problem with the Cienfuegos refinery, Piñón points out, is that it “does not have a vacuum tower or a catalytic cracking unit like the Havana refinery” and, therefore, is more likely to produce lower-quality fuel oil used for distributed generation engines and less of “high-value products such as gasoline and diesel.” The expert notes that the coastal vessel Prímula has been docked in Cienfuegos for two days, right after the Vilma departed, and speculates that it is “ready to transport refined products as soon as possible from the Cienfuegos refinery to a Cuban oil port yet to be determined.”

Meanwhile, maritime tracking agencies show the Russian tanker Universal, which is sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, like the Anatoly Kolodkin, loaded with 320,000 barrels of fuel and coming from the Baltic port of Vysotsk in the North Atlantic, is bound for Cuba. Its expected arrival date is April 23.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

There were numerous complaints about his deteriorating health and the irregularities surrounding the entire judicial process against him

Indeed, during the sentence of the now former prisoner, aged 45, there were numerous complaints about his deteriorating health and the irregularities surrounding the entire judicial process against him. According to relatives and independent organizations such as Justicia 11J, Prisoners Defenders, and Cubalex, the political prisoner was deprived of medication and specialized care. On several occasions he had to be urgently transferred to Abel Santamaría Hospital in critical condition, even vomiting blood, but was always returned to prison without guarantees of treatment.

Despite his condition, he was subjected to forced labor. The former political prisoner stated that he was forced to work to access a less severe prison regime, despite his physical state, and that by refusing to collaborate with State Security he lost prison benefits, including sentence reduction.

The complaints also include physical assaults: in 2024 and 2025, his mother reported that he was beaten by prison officials. Additionally, he was subjected to threats so that his family would stop denouncing the situation on social media. He also endured constant interrogations and arbitrary restrictions, such as the removal of his prison job after refusing to cooperate with State Security.

Despite his critical condition, the authorities refused to grant him medical parole. The refusal was based on his status as a “counterrevolutionary”

Despite his critical condition, authorities repeatedly refused to grant him medical parole. According to his family, the refusal was based on his status as a “counterrevolutionary,” despite meeting the medical requirements to access this benefit.

Díaz Rodríguez was detained during the 11 July 2021 protests in Artemisa and remained in pretrial detention until his trial. On December 27, 2021, the Municipal People’s Court of Artemisa sentenced him to four years in prison for contempt and public disorder.

Prisoners Defenders presented the case before the UN Human Rights Council as part of the collective complaint “1,000 Cuban Families vs. Cuban Government.”

This document claims that Díaz Rodríguez’s process was plagued with legal irregularities. Among them, the imposition of pretrial detention without judicial intervention and the lack of access to independent defense, as he was represented by lawyers from the National Organization of Collective Law Firms, subordinate to the State.

The document also points to the absence of judicial impartiality and the use of questionable evidence and testimony, mostly from State officials, as well as the complete dismissal of defense witnesses.

Cuba has consolidated itself as the country with the most convictions for arbitrary detention in the world according to the UN Working Group

The court used subjective assessments such as “poor social conduct” or “destabilizing actions” to justify the severity of the sentence, which reached the maximum limit provided. According to the complaint by Prisoners Defenders, these expressions, included in the ruling, demonstrate political bias and a lack of neutrality incompatible with international standards.

The images, circulated among activists and opposition figures, were also shared by the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer, who publicly denounced the situation through a video on social media and recalled the situation of other prisoners of conscience who also suffer mistreatment, such as Roilán Álvarez, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and Félix Navarro, among the 1,213 political prisoners that Prisoners Defenders reports to date.

Meanwhile, Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, in his recent interview with NBC, has once again denied the existence of political prisoners on the Island: “That image that in Cuba, anyone who speaks against the revolution is imprisoned is a lie.”

The UN has shown that the detentions are political in nature and violate fundamental rights of expression and assembly

Prisoners Defenders reports that Cuba has consolidated itself as the country with the most convictions for arbitrary detention in the world according to the UN Working Group. The UN has shown that the detentions are political in nature and violate fundamental rights of expression and assembly.

Javier Larrondo also recalls that according to the latest report from the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances, Cuba is the fourth country in the world in urgent actions for this crime, behind only Mexico, Iraq, and Colombia. Unlike these countries, he notes, in Cuba enforced disappearances are directly attributed to the State.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The statement emphasizes the importance of “working together and growing as a country (…) in the face of increasing threats from the U.S. Government, reinforced by the executive order of January 29, which added an energy siege to the already intensified economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on us for more than 65 years simply for wanting to build a dignified, sovereign, and independent nation.”

Nor does the call differ, as is traditional, in the use of the so-called founding fathers of the nation. “Celebrating May Day (…) is to once again ‘break the corojo’* as Maceo did in Baraguá when he did not accept a peace without independence; it is to evoke the ideas of José Martí in his speech Los Pinos Nuevos, a transcendental declaration of unity of several generations of Cubans around the independence project; it is to defend, in the year of the centennial of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, his concept expressed on May 1, 2000.”

The organization calls on workers to “defend the country from the furrow, the factories, the classrooms, scientific centers, thermoelectric plants, hospitals, culture, sports; from every trench of combat,” and invites “friends of Cuba around the world” to accompany the celebration. Last year, according to the organizers, nearly 1,000 activists from 260 organizations aligned with the regime in 39 countries traveled to the Island, including 211 Americans, the largest national delegation. Now, with a large number of international flights suspended, it remains to be seen what will happen with these foreign delegations, which normally attend the Havana event and usually take part in a tour of activities.

Now, with a large number of international flights suspended, it remains to be seen what will happen with these foreign delegations, which normally attend the Havana event and usually take part in a tour of activities

In any case, the CTC thanks in its statement the solidarity of those who wish to support them “in the midst of a real military threat” and repeats the idea that Díaz-Canel brought up last week during his interview on the U.S. channel NBC: “To die for the homeland is to live.”

The document continues by urging workers to comply with “the priorities defined by the Party,” whether it be the energy matrix shift, food, education, or health, “not out of dogma or fanaticism, but out of conviction, ideas, and action.”

Last year, the regime claimed to have gathered one million people at the May 1 parade, which was again held in the Plaza de la Revolución. Enthusiasm, however, was once again notably absent, as in the past decade. According to official data, in 2018 there were 800,000 attendees, but a year later, during the so-called energy “conjuncture,” the empty spaces were clear evidence of the lack of motivation, despite pressure. After the suspension of celebrations due to the pandemic and the last-minute cancellation in 2023, the situation was such that in 2024 the march was held at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune, with 13,000 square meters and the attendance of supposedly around 200,000 people.

*Translator’s note: The phrase “el 23 se rompe el Corojo” was used as a coded message of defiance by supporters of Maceo, setting a date (March 23) to “break the corojo,” meaning to break the agreement and resume hostilities. (AI)

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The most recent trade data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity reinforce this trend. In 2024, China was the main destination for Cuban exports of “nickel mattes” [intermediate sulfide products] and other intermediate nickel products, with 53.1 million dollars, ahead of the Netherlands, with 35.4 million. The figure confirms that the link with Beijing can no longer be described as complementary. In a key part of the business, China is now the most important buyer.

The relationship between the two countries in this sector, however, did not begin now. The most ambitious precedent dates back to 2004, when Cuba and China signed 16 cooperation agreements that included a promise of investment exceeding 500 million dollars to complete a ferronickel plant abandoned in the eastern part of the country. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), that package also included the supply of 4,000 tons of nickel annually to China between 2005 and 2009, and the creation of a joint venture to explore and develop mineral deposits. As has happened so many times in the Cuban economy, the gap between announcement and outcome was considerable. It was later acknowledged that the Camarioca project ended up leaving the orbit of China Minmetals.

Sherritt has not disappeared from the map, but the combination of energy crisis, production paralysis, and external dependence has weakened its immediate prominence

In statements to 14ymedio, businessman William Pitt has linked the deterioration of Sherritt in Cuba both to the collapse of the international price of nickel and to the growing financial burden of its operations on the Island. In April 2024, he warned that a metric ton of nickel was trading at 17,439 dollars, well below the 23,894 dollars of a year earlier, and argued that this drop was forcing mining companies to cut investments in Cuba. A year later, commenting on the company’s annual report, he noted that although in 2024 Sherritt extracted 30,331 tons of nickel and 2,206 of cobalt, its revenues fell to 109.9 million dollars, 29% less than in 2023.

In May 2025, moreover, the company recorded a loss of 40.6 million dollars in the first quarter, while its nickel production fell from 3,597 to 2,947 tons, its nickel sales declined from 87.8 to 75.7 million dollars, and the Cuban State kept frozen the payment of some 107 million dollars it owed the Canadian company. For Pitt, behind those losses there is not only a bad price cycle, but a combination of blackouts, fuel shortages, falling global demand, lack of personnel, and the general deterioration of the Cuban state partner.

Sherritt has not disappeared from the map, but the combination of energy crisis, production paralysis, and external dependence has weakened its immediate prominence. China, on the other hand, is strengthening its position through a less visible and more effective route. It buys, supplies equipment, sustains cooperation, and places itself at the center of an industry that the Cuban government needs to preserve in order to obtain foreign currency. According to the USGS, mineral products accounted for nearly a third of Cuban exports in 2023, a proportion too high to allow nickel to collapse without external support.

The installation of the sedimentation tank does not by itself rescue the industry nor does it amount to a major wave of investment. But it does function as a symptom. At the moment when the Canadian company slows down and the Cuban State cannot sustain the comprehensive modernization of the sector with its own resources, China occupies the available space.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue

“This temporary suspension affects exclusively Cuba, due to its exceptional situation. Iberia maintains the rest of its operations normally and, looking ahead to this summer, will offer a record number of 21.4 million seats”

In 2013, Iberia went through a severe economic crisis that forced the airline, which only two years earlier had merged with British Airways in the IAG alliance, one of the largest in the world, to carry out a workforce restructuring. In those negotiations, which led to the departure of more than 4,500 employees, three long-haul routes were canceled: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. It was the first time in more than 60 years that the Spanish company did not fly to the Island.

The measure lasted two years, and in 2015 flights resumed in a big way, with five weekly connections, precisely in a promising year for the Cuban economy, when amid the thaw with the United States, companies from around the world bet on positioning themselves on the Island ahead of an opening that ultimately ended in failure.

Iberia suspended flights to Cuba again during the pandemic, when air routes worldwide were affected by border closures and airspace shutdowns.

This is, therefore, the first time the Spanish airline leaves the Island for reasons attributable exclusively to Cuba. On February 9, the company announced that, despite the lack of fuel, it would maintain its flights to Havana by refueling in the Dominican Republic. It was also one of the few airlines that did not backtrack on its decision, unlike those from Canada and Russia, countries that currently have higher flows of tourism to the Island, which nevertheless evacuated their nationals and stopped traveling until the situation is resolved.

Spain, despite being a key economic and cultural partner of Cuba, has ceased to be a top-tier tourism market as it had been until recently. The commitment of hotel entrepreneurs remains, for now, intact, but travelers are fleeing. Last year, barely 46,489 Spaniards visited the Island, compared to 65,054 in 2024. These numbers are put into perspective when compared to those of 2017, when the figure was 168,949.

In the first two months of 2026, only 4,422 Spaniards traveled to Cuba, 32% fewer than in the same period the previous year.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.