The Spanish Consulate in Cuba has decided to temporarily suspend nationality and passport services at the Lonja del Comerio offices for citizens of the country.
Announcing the news, the Consulate said that the decision had been made following the energy crisis and noted that some of the procedures will remain suspended until further notice, Schengen.News reports.
Since the Consulate is currently closed, all nationality and passport appointments have been cancelled. To avoid any inconvenience, the authorities said that all those affected who missed their appointment will have it rescheduled.
At the same time, the Consulate said some hours later after making the above statement that today, October 22, those who have an appointment for nationality procedures will be able to attend it only until midday.
As for the others, the Consulate noted that they would have to wait until their appointment is rescheduled.
Visa Appointments Will Not Be Affected, Consulate Stressed
While the Consulate is not able to proceed with work as usual due to the energy crisis, the case is not the same for the Spanish Embassy.
The authorities stressed that the Embassy would remain open and would carry out visa procedures without any issues.
This means that those who have Spanish visa appointments at the embassy will not be affected by the suspension of activity at the Consulate.
Nationals of Cuba file a high number of Schengen visa appointments every year. Schengen Statistics Portal shows that last year, they filed a total of 47,792 visa applications. Of these applications, almost half – 23,633 – were for a Spanish visa.
Spain issued 17,725 Schengen visas for Cubans in 2023 and denied 4,316 visas for this nationality.
Source: https://schengen.news/spanish-consulate-in-cuba-suspends-some-services-temporarily/
