A Cuban identified as Linet posted yesterday on TikTok a testimony about the dislocation she experiences after three years and several months living in Spain, vividly describing a feeling that resonates with thousands of Cuban emigrants: having everything materially and still feeling that something is missing.
"I am Cuban living in Spain, and today I want to share a feeling that I have. I have been here in Spain for three years and a few months, and I still don’t feel well. I feel like my body is here, but my life is in Cuba," Linet said in the video.
The young woman was straightforward in explaining that her presence in Spain was not a free choice: “I am here because I have to be. If it wasn’t in Spain, it would have been in China, in Hong Kong, in Jamaica; it would have been somewhere, but I don’t feel well.”
What stands out most in her account is the paradox she describes: "Even though you pay the rent and the house is yours, you feel like an outsider. It's such a strange feeling that you feel you have everything and yet you lack everything."
Linet closed her message with a reflection that directly addresses the illusion with which Cubans leave the island: "When a Cuban leaves Cuba, they do so with hope and a certain mindset, but when they confront these countries, it's something else."
Linet's testimony is not an isolated case. Cuban actress Odelmys Torres broke down publicly on April 29 while speaking about the challenges of emigrating and the distance from her father. That same month, Cuban Patry B recounted losing her husband, father, home, and pet in four years in Spain: "I went from having everything to having nothing... it has been four very tough years."
Another emigrant, identified as Iris, described the "identity limbo" that every Cuban who emigrates experiences: "That place that was your life no longer belongs to you, and consequently, you also do not belong to the country where you emigrated."
This discomfort has a name in psychology: migratory grief. The Cuban psychologist Hedels González developed the project "Emigrar Hacia Dentro," offering free group workshops for Cubans in Spain, pointing out that "we are not educated in helping when it does not stem from disorder."
The phenomenon occurs in the context of an unprecedented mass exodus. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Spain, approximately 287,490 Cubans are registered in the country, and more than 35,200 arrived in just 2025. Between 2021 and 2024, nearly 1.79 million Cubans left the island, which represents about 20% of the population over the last five years.
Family separation emerges as the most significant emotional factor in these testimonies. Linet's own video suggests this when she rejects the idea that her distress is solely due to having her daughter far away: the wound, she says, is deeper.
A Cuban emigrant in Spain summarized it on November 20, 2025, with a phrase that captures the drama of an entire generation: "Being Cuban is the cross I love the most and the one that weighs the heaviest on me, because you don't leave Cuba; Cuba is taken from you."
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