Galician architect returns from China, claims Spain stuck in 2008

Galician architect returns from China, claims Spain stuck in 2008

Is Spain still the sunny paradise of tapas and public healthcare we imagine, or has it become a country where life is absurdly expensive, infrastructure crumbles, and the only collective hope is the next local festival? A Galician architect who spent four years in China returned to Spain and posted a list of grievances on social media that ignited public debate. His diagnosis: most Spanish infrastructure lags a decade behind developed Asia, citing Chamartín Station and Barajas T1 as examples of what he directly labels third-world.

The text, spread on social media and picked up by outlets like ABC, goes beyond bricks and mortar. It discusses a broken relationship between wages and cost of living, openly deficient customer service, a loss of faith in the system, and what he calls a de facto gerontocratic bureaucracy: a country designed by and for the elderly, where young people have barely any access to housing. “Life is a pause occurring between the various popular celebrations that take place throughout the year,” he summarizes.

Why does he say Spain is stuck in 2008?

The central thesis is that the country hasn’t moved. “You hardly notice significant changes after nearly five years,” the author argues, describing a “totally excessive” complacency and a lack of perspective on the world of 2024. According to his analysis, many still believe Europe is the center, that the greatest development is in the United States, and that the financial crisis was a global phenomenon, when —he argues— the economic axis has shifted toward Asia.

This diagnosis isn’t isolated. In the exchange of opinions generated by his post, several participants agree that Spanish rail infrastructure, once a reference, has stagnated: some claim trains are homologated for 330-350 km/h but don’t exceed 310 because track ballast flies off, while China already operates at 400 km/h. Others add that not only are new routes not peine, but regional lines are closed and replaced with longer, more expensive journeys.

Against this, another current argues the comparison is unfair. They state that China controls its population with an oppressive security apparatus, that its model relies on megaprojects of dubious quality —so-called tofu buildings— and that the supposed paradise of the Asian giant is propaganda. “I lived in China and I won’t go back if I can help it,” one commenter summarizes.

Cost of living and the gap between salaries and prices

One of the points with the most resonance is economic. The original author states that “everything is absurdly expensive” and that there is no relationship between wages and cost of living. In the subsequent discussion, a pensioner shares his specific case: €2,000 pension and €800 rent, plus a €700 mortgage, with an income tax burden of €2,000 annually. “The state considers us rich,” he complains, while the infrastructure paid for via taxes neither exists nor is expected.

The discussion shifts to the labor market and housing. Labor and housing dumping caused by immigration among young people is mentioned, though the conversation gets tangled in cross accusations. What emerges clearly is a shared feeling: youth need to organize differently to escape precariousness, because the current system offers them no way out.

Spain of perpetual partying and complacency

The social portrait drawn by the author is uncomfortable. He speaks of a significant percentage of the population being “out, mentally and physically,” difficulties maintaining rational conversations, children described as little savages, and an excessive presence of dogs. But above all, he insists on complacency: “People have stayed in 2008.”

That diagnosis connects with a recurring idea in the exchange: the population self-controls and self-censors without the State needing to impose measures. The period of health restrictions is cited as an example, when —it is argued— many citizens demanded more repression and control. The conclusion drawn is that a coercive apparatus is unnecessary when society has already internalized obedience.

Clash of narratives: China as an uncomfortable mirror

The comparison with China polarizes. One part of the exchange defends that the Asian giant transformed its economy in a few decades, cleaned cities that had permanently gray skies twenty years ago, and surpassed Europe in infrastructure and urban mobility. Massive use of transport apps with high-end cars for negligible prices and metro and bus networks that put Spanish ones to shame are described.

Another part responds harshly. It is recalled that China maintains exhaustive social control in streets, buildings, and transport, that its model rests on propaganda, and that its achievements hide practices like real estate scams or counterfeit food. “It is suffocating for an average Westerner,” one intervention summarizes. The discussion moves to geopolitics: it is argued that Europe applies energy saving policies because it cannot afford expansive policies, while China invests in megaprojects because it considers Asia its backyard.

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In the end, the question hovering over the entire exchange is not whether China is better, but whether Spain intends to move. The original author is clear: changes happen very slowly and improvements are barely noticeable after nearly five years. Those expecting an official response should sit down. The next local festival won’t organize itself.