By clothing-bag, 10/01/2023

COVID-19 effect: The Cuban 'mule' business moves to Spain

Martha is a 56 -year -old Cuban who does not work, but has a stable source of income: he travels to countries like Panama, Mexico and Peru to buy goods that he later sells in Cuba.His Spanish passport exempts her from requesting visa.The border closure caused by the expansion of the COVID-19 twisted its plans and endangered its economy.Luckily, you can still travel to Spain.

The business

"Spain is not an ideal destination to come from shopping because, with respect to countries such as Panama, Mexico or Peru, the cost of merchandise, food, transport and accommodation is much more expensive.In addition, the trip is very long and the change of schedule affects you, "this Cuban says to Cuban, who has had to transfer its operations to the Iberian Peninsula.

Osmany, another Cuban who travels and buys goods to sell on the island, explains how the business works in current circumstances.

"Usually, (the 'mules') travel in groups of eight people or more.They are people who have not imported the year and are paid 150 euros and the 10kg suitcase for personal purchases.The rest belongs to those who pay the trip and run with all the transport, lodging and food expenses ".

This business existed before the pandemic and many Cubans benefited with residence or citizenship of another country.They only needed to reserve the import (overweight) that allows the government to be paid in national currency to the residents on the island once a year, and offer their services to a compatriot to suffer trip, food and accommodation.

Trip

"With the Covid-19 Pandemia and the restrictions imposed within Cuba, it is an odyssey to get the permits for interprovincial transfers and to buy the tickets.The PCR, Spain demands it with (no more than) 24 hours in advance, so you have to request authorization from the Directorate of Hygiene and Epidemiology of your territory to take the exam when it is outside your municipality;Then, authorization to collect the results 24 hours ahead and, finally, the permission for the driver that takes you to the airport, "List Martha lists.

Karla is a twenty -year -old who did not continue studying after finishing the pre -university.It is still not clear what it will do in the future;At the moment she takes advantage of her condition that, in addition to providing income, allows her to travel and see part of the world.

But there is little that has been able to enjoy, because the difficulties began just when I was going to travel to Spain for the first time, and not only due to pandemic.

Efecto Covid-19: The business de las 'mulas' cubanas se traslada a España

"They recently banned the purchase of air tickets in national currency.Now, it is necessarily with MLC card (freely convertible currency).So you have to buy the euros also for the ticket;Before that we bought it in national currency, "complains.

This increases spending for those who cost the tickets and could stop considering the business profitable.

Purchases

Another of the difficulties that these Cubans face with Spanish nationality is precisely the purchase of euros.

"Before the order (monetary) and the Covid, the entry of tourism favored the purchase of dollars per quantity; now it does not happen, you have to buy what appears," explains Adrián, husband of Karla and owner of a small kiosk where he sellsbathing."Sometimes we take months to complete all the money needed for purchases.A neighbor or a friend that Fulano is selling 20 dollars, 60 or whatever, and so we are gathering "warns us".

"In other countries where we buy, such as Peru, Panama, Mexico, Haiti, the currency par excellence is the dollar, which remains in the Cuban black market on the 60 pesos national currency, unlike the euro that, in addition to that it is muchMore difficult to find, it is about the 80 pesos ".

In Spain, according to Martha, Cubans buy men's and woman underwear, footwear and light clothes."Everything depends on the province and the type of customers of each seller, who already knows their market and where and what is sold better and faster.In addition, some electronic items such as Telephones and Memories Flash ".

To buy, they move to the Cobo Calleja industrial estate, in the Madrid municipality FuenlabradOsmany says, who knew from the site - where China's market abounds - because other Cubans who have traveled before ran their voice.

Being able to enter Cuba toilet products, medications and cost -free food, after recent government measures, "it is good, but in Spain it is very difficult to acquire medicines, since most of those demanded in Cuba carry a medical recipe.Only nutritional vitamins and accessories could be carried out to sell.I personally do not buy medicines to sell;It is very hard in the situation that Cubans are now selling a fever pill, "says Osmany.

On food and hygiene items, consider that it is about to buy them, because in Cuba the overweight is paid in national currency (if it is the first import of the year), but transport an extra suitcase through any costs costsapproximately 120 euros.

Regarding lodging during trips to Spain, which usually lasts less than a week, Osmany says that the daily cost of accommodation and food "is for 35 euros".

"We almost always rent an apartment, we sleep on the floor, on the couch, where you can save on personal expenses.The women are the ones who spend it worse because we share the bathroom, the kitchen and sometimes we are up to eight for two rooms ".

"The good thing is that we help them load the packages, each (weighs) 23 kilograms.It must be packaged, that women usually do, but weigh, retract and load, go, hard work, we do it, "says the Cuban.

The return

Given the lack of interprovincial public transport in Cuba, another complicated phase of the trip is the return to the interior of the island.The private driver hiring the "mules" cannot have gone to Havana in the last 15 days, "that means that whoever takes us (to the airport) cannot be the one who picks us up on the return.That must be coordinated before leaving, "says Karla.

"There are two return trips: one from the airport to the province and after confineCOVID-19.

"In the isolation centers there are no fans, a room with other people is shared, there is no hot water, they only have a refrigerator.The food takes you to your room and you have no option to buy other things or receive food from family members, "describes her husband.

The profit

"Cuba can only be removed 2.000 pesos in national currency and on the return you have to pay approximately 15.000 pesos for luggage, "says Martha."What he wants to do (the government of) Cuba is to force us to change the euros in the cadeca inside the airport at 27 pesos per euro, when we have to buy it at 80 pesos, so we have to get the money hiddenOn the first trip.I can't explain the fear and ideas that occur to us to pass the money.We hide it in the stockings, underwear...".

The government currently does not sell any type of foreign exchange to Cubans, so the only source is the black market.

"After we go through customs, randomly do some controls to check if we have more money from the established and, if so, they take it without the right to claim anything," says Adrián.

"Customs are aware of each passenger, they do customs more frequently.Mark the bags to open and check them is fashionable.Of course, no one who is in this business arrives in Cuba only with the amount of allowed articles, and everything above can be confiscated if they consider that it has 'commercial character'.We have had colleagues who have lost all the gain in what they have taken away in customs.Imagine investing thousands of dollars and that they take it practically everything.It's very hard".

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