A Cuban resident in Spain posted a video on TikTok in which she reveals that her situation in the European country has become impossible to sustain, in a testimony that reflects the reality of other migrants from the island.
The author, identified as @nayrelis.gonzales and known on social media as "La Cubanita," filmed the video in front of a concrete structure while wearing a fluorescent yellow safety vest, a sign of the type of physical labor that many Cubans must resort to in order to stay afloat in Spain.
The text accompanying the recording leaves no room for doubt: "This situation in Spain is unsustainable."
The video, lasting almost four minutes, accumulated over 5,800 views, 263 likes, and 92 comments in less than 48 hours, which shows that the message resonated with a community facing similar circumstances.
The testimony of this Cuban adds to others like it. The Cuban community in Spain reached approximately 287,490 people at the beginning of 2026, having grown by 35,200 the previous year, and many of these newcomers face a housing market that excludes them from day one.
The average rent in Spain reached 15.1 euros per square meter in May 2026, a historic high with a year-on-year increase of 4%. In Madrid, the price climbs to 23.4 euros per square meter, which amounts to approximately 1,638 euros per month for a 70-square-meter apartment, an amount exceeding the current minimum wage.
In addition, the housing crisis in Spain hits immigrants particularly hard. In its Annual Report 2025, published in June 2026, the Bank of Spain estimated that the country has a deficit of about 750,000 homes. Meanwhile, the rental supply has significantly decreased since the pandemic, according to various studies by the real estate portal Idealista.
Moreover, many landlords require pay slips, employment history, and guarantors that newcomers cannot provide. According to the Active Population Survey (EPS) of the National Institute of Statistics, the unemployment rate for the foreign population in Spain was around 17.2% during the first quarter of 2026.
Others Cubans in Spain have described a cycle of expenses that includes water bills of up to 315 euros —far above the usual range of 30 to 90 euros bimonthly— and salaries that barely suffice to cover rent and food, with no opportunity to save or send remittances to family in Cuba.
The extraordinary regularization approved in January 2026, which granted residency and a work permit for one year to those who arrived before December 31, 2025, eased the situation for some, but access to the procedures remained difficult for many Cubans who lack the guidance or resources to navigate the immigration bureaucracy.
The video of "La Cubanita" adds to a long series of testimonies from Cuban migrants who warn about the gap between the so-called "European dream" and the daily reality of hard jobs, unaffordable rents, and the constant pressure to support a family that remains on the island.
According to the CIS barometer of March 2026, housing has emerged as the primary issue in Spain cited by citizens, with 43.5% of mentions.
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