The commercial court number 11 of Barcelona has ruled that Meliá has the right to be the future manager of the Juan Carlos I hotel in Barcelona. At the beginning of this year, the Mallorcan chain had already reached an agreement with the company that owns it, Barcelona Project’s, and the investment fund Tyrus, the main creditor of the hotel’s debt. In the agreement, Meliá promised to reactivate the large establishment and save 300 jobs, while Tyrus began to invest in remodeling works. With this agreement on the table, the company that owns it requested the termination of the contract with the current manager of the hotel, the Fairmont chain, which showed its rejection of the change of scenery and asked to maintain the management and, in case of not maintaining it, be compensated with an amount of 19 million euros.
The conflict was addressed through a trial held on July 14 and today the judge agreed with Meliá. According to the sentence to which this newspaper has had access, the resolution of the Fairmont contract, and the awarding of the service to Meliá, is in the interest of the bankruptcy and the future of the hotel. The ruling maintains that the Spanish chain was able to reach an agreement with the property while Fairmont was unable to do so. It must be taken into account that the Canadian firm had suspended the contract due to the pandemic and had no specific reopening date, nor a specific investment plan to carry it out. This caused the property to have more confidence with Meliá, which closed an agreement with facilities.
In addition, the judge considers that Fairmont does not have the right to collect compensation precisely because it had suspended the contract and because, due to technical reasons, it did not sufficiently prove the damage caused by losing management of the hotel.
The sentence can be appealed before the Provincial Court within a period of 20 days.
