13 thoughts on ““The Luxury of Simplicity””

  1. I don´t know why I watched it. I´m so f’ng angry I can´t see straight. You know what pushed me over the edge. Watching the Cuban woman arranging, she has to smile at these fucking tourists for tips, who are raping her country, and God only knows how hard her daily life is, just to get to the job and home, much less food, and caring for her family. When Cuba is free someone needs to be held accountable.

  2. Sol Melia is “the largest resort hotel chain in the World.” It’s a good thing because they ARE going to have to PAY UP big time. It’s good to know they have the funds.
    Sol Cayo Santa Maria – Located in Villa Clara province, Remedio & La Cayeria Del Norte.
    http://www.solmeliacuba.com/international-versions/
    Facilities: 300 units, 4 restaurants; 3 bars; dance club; cabaret; large free-form outdoor pool; 2 outdoor tennis courts; small, well-equipped health club and spa; extensive free watersports equipment; bike rental; children’s program; game room; concierge; tour desk; car-rental desk; salon; massage; babysitting; laundry service; nonsmoking rooms.
    “The beach in front of the hotel is long and almost immediately deserted, just 91m (300 ft.) or so away from the hotel. The large percentage of European and Canadian tourists have made it a comfortable place for topless and nude bathing.”
    Sol Meliá Cuba Hotels by Destinations
    • Havana Hotels
    • Varadero Hotels
    • Cayo Largo Hotels
    • Cayo Santa María Hotels
    • Cayo Guillermo Hotels
    • Cayo Coco Hotels
    • Holguín Hotels
    • Santiago de Cuba Hotels
    Sol Meliá Cuba Hotels by Interest
    • All inclusive Cuba Hotels
    • Golf Cuba Hotels
    • Family Cuba Hotels
    • Wedding & Honeymoon Cuba Hotels
    • SPA Cuba Hotels
    Sol Meliá Cuba Hotels by brands
    • Paradisus Hotels
    • Meliá Hotels
    • Sol Hotels
    • Tryp Hotels

  3. Yes, it’s sad to see that they could care less about what’s going on in Cuba. However, does this company care about what goes on in other poor countries where they have hotels? They are there to make money and nothing else.

  4. apr-47,
    That’s a copout. A poor country that’s free is different than Cuba. For one thing in those countries the market, not the government, decides what the employees get paid. Also the revenues from tourist operations don’t go directly to the government that represses the people. There isn’t an equivalency there. Tourism like any type of trade can help the people if the conditions are present for that to happen. Those conditions are not present in Cuba and that’s what separates Cuba from countries like Mexico or the Dominican Republic.

  5. 3 swimming pools? When the sewage backs up, which it always does, you can change the name of the place to Hotel Cholera.

  6. Melia holds a special place in my heart for being immoral opportunists. The very first act of any true Cuban government should be to nationalize all of their hotels. That would be poetic justice.

  9. Is there, or has there ever been, any significant public sentiment in Spain against the indisputably and incontrovertibly vile, heartless and ultimately criminal opportunism of a company like Sol Melia?
    Any inkling from the establishment or ever-so-righteous “opinion makers” in Spain that what Sol Melia has been doing for years in Cuba is at all objectionable?
    No? Well, that’s very telling, isn’t it? Reflect on that a bit, at least till you start retching.

  11. Yes, Henry, but how typical or representative is he? I never doubted that some Spaniards know what’s what, that’s why I said “significant sentiment,” the kind reflected in public opinion polls, media commentary, general consensus. If THAT were the case, what’s been going on and obviously continues unabated in Cuba regarding Spanish commercial ventures (or vultures) would be seriously uncool in Spain, now wouldn’t it?

  12. It’s certainly not the majority, but to be fair there are significant segements that are unhappy about it. I posted a couple of links to a 90 minute special from Libertad Digital in Spain. Also don’t forget that it was Spanish consumer protection group that protested the Iberia ad with the baby. We still have work to do with the Spanish but let’s not be blind either. Moratinos was widely criticized in Spain for the visit to Cuba and the way he comported himself there.

  13. Well, any improvement in the situation in Spain is welcome and commendable, but there’s a long way to go. There’s simply no conceivable excuse or justification for what Sol Melia is doing in Cuba, and Sol Melia is hardly the only culprit.
    I suspect, by the way, that the outcry over the outrageous Iberia “mulatas” video was motivated more by Spanish feminist concerns than by concern for the plight of the Cuban people, male and female. Again, Iberia in Spain is like Ford or GM here. It is a reflection of the general population, and the fact that it would blithely try to pull such a thing is extremely disturbing and, I’m afraid, all too telling. It’s not 1961 anymore.

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