Spain protests Cuba's rejection of Spanish eurodeputy

(MADRID) - Spain said it summoned the Cuban ambassador Monday to protest Havana's "unjustified" refusal to allow a Spanish member of the European Parliament to enter the communist island.

Socialist eurodeputy Luis Yanez was denied entry to Cuba late Sunday when he arrived in Havana from Spain, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Faced with the unjustified refusal to allow the eurodeputy Luis Yanez into Cuban territory ... Secetary of State for Latin America Juan Pablo de la Iglesia has called the Cuban ambassador in Spain in order to seek the appropriate explanation," it said.

A Spanish diplomatic source said Cuba offered "no explanation" for its decision.

Yanez, 66, is head of the European Parliament's committee on relations with the South American trade bloc Mercosur.

A source at Spain's ruling Socialist Party said he had traveled to Cuba in a small plane accompanied by his wife, Spanish legislator Carmen Hermosin, who was given permission to enter the country. Both returned to Spain on Monday.

Spain has long been in the forefront of efforts to boost relations with Cuba, a former Spanish colony.

Madrid on Friday launched its six-month stint at the helm of the European Union seeking a new bilateral agreement on EU-Cuba ties despite objections from its two immediate predecessors -- Sweden and the Czech Republic -- and Cuban human rights groups.