Hundreds of Cubans hoping to file Schengen or residence visa applications were left waiting for days outside Spain’s new Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Havana this week after a scheduling glitch generated open-ended appointment emails covering 26–30 October. Videos shared online show would-be applicants queueing amid overflowing rubbish bins and accusing staff of processing barely 100 files per day. The Consulate-General of Spain acknowledged the problem on 30 October and announced that *all* affected appointments will be reassigned with specific dates “in strict order of original request”. Applicants are instructed to ignore the previous automatic messages and await a new email from the official address info@spainvisa-cuba.com. The fiasco underscores the scale of Cuban demand for Spanish paperwork. More than 252,000 Cuban nationals reside in Spain, and over 107,000 have filed nationality claims under the 2022 Democratic Memory Law. The new VAC, opened on 5 October to relieve the overstretched consulate, has yet to match staffing to demand, raising fears of continued delays as the busy Christmas travel season approaches. For Spanish employers transferring Cuban talent, the immediate advice is to maintain flexible start dates and build contingency time into relocation plans. Outsourcing providers should obtain power-of-attorney so they can attend future appointments on behalf of assignees and monitor the consulate’s social-media channels for slot releases.
Source: CiberCuba
