A Cuban doctor working in emergency care in Spain, known on TikTok as Dr. Jepeto, shared this Monday in a video posted on that platform how he ended up defending his adopted country against a Spanish patient who unfavorably compared the streets of Spain to those of Switzerland.
The anecdote took place during his night shift in the emergency room. The doctor treated a Spanish woman who has been living in Switzerland for about 40 years and visited the emergency service due to a fracture in a finger and a bruise on her knee —previously operated on— after a fall in a restaurant in Benicasim, a coastal town in Castellón known for its historic center with cobblestone streets.
The patient quickly expressed her discomfort: "This is the second time I've come to Spain and the second time I've fallen and broken something," she told the doctor, adding that she had never experienced anything like that in Switzerland in four decades. Her conclusion was straightforward: Spain "is full of gaps" and uneven streets.
Dr. Jepeto tried to maintain his composure and explained that the country has towns with cobblestone streets and old-fashioned styles: "Spain is full of towns, cities that are over-paved, but towns that are irregular, where there are cobblestone streets... and that is what makes it beautiful."
However, inside, the annoyance was growing. "I almost told her: look, ma'am, I think if you don't want to come to Spain, don't come to Spain anymore, because you're going to fall and break a bone," he admitted in the video.
At the end of the consultation —X-ray, instructions, and discharge— the patient announced that she would be returning to Switzerland in three days. It was then that the doctor reflected on what he had felt: “I felt like a martyr, I felt identified as Spanish in this case, I felt more Spanish than anything else because of what happened to me, because I stood up in defense of Spain.”
The Cuban did not hide his indignation at the comparison: "As a Cuban... I felt hurt because you are Spanish and live in Switzerland. I think it's great that Switzerland is stunning, as well as Germany, Iceland, Japan, and all the heavenly places, but don't come and tell me that Spain is full of potholes."
And he made a comparison that sums up the feelings of many Cuban emigrants: "If Spain is full of potholes, what is left for Cuba? What is a pothole?". The phrase encapsulates a reality that other Cubans in Spain have expressed on social media: the extreme deterioration of streets and services on the island serves as a reference to downplay any grievances about the host country.
The doctor concluded the video with a statement of belonging: "Even though I am Cuban and not Spanish, I live here and chose this country. I don't want some Spaniard living elsewhere to come and throw shade at me."
The experience of Dr. Jepeto is part of a well-established trend among Cuban doctors practicing in the Spanish healthcare system who share their integration experiences on social media. Spain is home to more than 180,000 legal Cuban residents, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics from late 2025, making it the primary European destination for Cuban emigration.
"If you go to Cuba, you leave a piece of yourself from head to toe," concluded the doctor, in a phrase that humorously and emotionally encapsulates the distance between the Cuba he left behind and the Spain he chose as his home.
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