A Cuban resident in Spain reached her limit of economic patience this Wednesday and shared it candidly in a video posted on TikTok: on the same day she was supposed to pay her rent, her landlord presented her with a water bill of 315 euros, and her salary simply isn't enough to cover everything.
"I'm at my breaking point. I can't take it anymore, I can't take it anymore, I can't take it anymore. I don't know whether to laugh, to cry, or to scream. I just don't know. I'm tired," says Karmen Torres at the beginning of the one-minute and 13-second clip, her voice cracking with exhaustion.
Torres explains that in Spain, water bills are issued every two months, and the amount presented to him—315 euros—took him by surprise on the first day of the month when he was already facing the rent payment.
The bill in question far exceeds the Spanish average: according to data from management companies, the bimonthly cost of water for a standard household ranges between 30 and 90 euros, making the 315 euros an unusually high figure, possibly due to excessive consumption, a large home, or accumulated debts.
But Torres' problem doesn't end with that bill. "Nothing is rent, food, the child's things, school expenses, services. It isn't enough for anything," he summarizes in the video.
It also reveals that he works in a job he doesn't like, just to cover basic expenses, with nothing left over at the end of the month: "I'm in a job that I don't like, working just to pay for services, expenses, and rent. The money doesn't stretch for anything more."
The testimony reflects a structural tension faced by thousands of Cuban emigrants in Spain. Rent in large cities ranges between 900 and 1,638 euros per month, while the average salary is around 1,500 euros and the Minimum Interprofessional Salary is around 1,370-1,400 euros in 2026. When combined with food (between 300 and 400 euros per person), utilities, and school expenses, the margin for saving or sending remittances to Cuba is practically nonexistent.
This situation is not exclusive to Torres. A Cuban woman warned in June that you cannot come to Spain without a minimum amount of savings, and another who emigrated from the United States described the experience as a complete madness. Other recurring testimonies on social media portray life in Spain as "living to pay."
Spain is the second most popular destination for Cuban emigration, only behind the United States. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics published in February 2026, at least 35,200 Cubans registered in the Spanish municipal roll during 2025, bringing the total of Cuban residents to approximately 287,490 individuals as of January 2026. The regions with the highest concentration are the Canary Islands, Madrid, and Catalonia.
Many of these emigrants arrive without a credit history or prior contracts, forcing them to accept unfavorable housing conditions and leaving them particularly vulnerable to unexpected events like the one Torres experienced this Wednesday.
At the end of the video, the Cuban poses a direct question to her community: "Tell me, how do you do it? Because right now, it's not enough for me. I thought it would be enough for me. How do you manage? Explain it to me, leave me a comment."
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