José Manuel Albares

José Manuel Albares is Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation. In June 2026 he received Cuba's deputy prime minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva in Madrid, a meeting that signalled Spain's continued engagement with Havana even as the European Parliament voted 283-199 for Magnitsky-style sanctions on President Díaz-Canel.

Albares has positioned Spanish diplomacy around minimising the impact of US sanctions on Spanish companies in Cuba, notably the hotel groups Meliá and Iberostar. Because EU sanctions require unanimity in the Council of the EU, Spain's stance functions as an effective brake on any bloc-wide Cuba restrictive-measures track, placing Madrid's executive at odds with the sanctions appetite of the European Parliament.