A Cuban resident in Spain posted a video on TikTok in which she claims that her situation in the European country has become unsustainable, in a testimony that reflects the reality of other migrants from the island.
The author recorded the video in front of a concrete structure while wearing a bright yellow safety vest, a sign of the type of physical work that many Cubans must turn 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, garnered over 5,800 views, 263 likes, and 92 comments in less than 48 hours, which indicates that the message resonated within a community facing similar circumstances.
The testimony of this Cuban adds to others that are similar. The Cuban community in Spain reached approximately 287,490 people at the beginning of 2026, after growing 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 historical high with a year-on-year increase of 4%. In Madrid, the price rises to 23.4 euros per square meter, which translates to about 1,638 euros monthly for a 70 square meter apartment, an amount that exceeds the current minimum wage.
This is compounded by the fact that 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 supply of rentals has significantly decreased since the pandemic, according to various studies from the real estate portal Idealista.
Moreover, many landlords require payrolls, employment history, and guarantees that newcomers cannot provide. According to the Active Population Survey (EPA) from the National Statistics Institute, the unemployment rate for the foreign population in Spain was around 17.2% during the first quarter of 2026.
Other Cubans in Spain have described a cycle of expenses that includes water bills of up to 315 euros—well above the usual range of 30 to 90 euros every two months—and salaries that barely cover rent and food, with no possibility to save or send remittances to relatives in Cuba.
The extraordinary regularization approved in January 2026, which allowed those who arrived before December 31, 2025, to obtain residency and a work permit for one year, alleviated the situation for some, but access to the procedures remained difficult for many Cubans who lack the advice or resources to navigate the migration bureaucracy.
The video of "La Cubanita" adds to a long series of testimonies from Cuban migrants warning about the gap between the so-called "European dream" and the daily reality of hard jobs, unaffordable rents, and the constant pressure to support families left behind on the island.
According to the CIS barometer of March 2026, housing has consolidated itself as the main problem in Spain cited by citizens, with 43.5% of mentions.
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