Should Puerto Ricans consider life in Spain?

There’s a strange, fascinating idea floating around lately — one that’s picking up more momentum than anyone expected. It’s not the typical “Puerto Ricans are leaving the island for the mainland” conversation. Nope. This one flips the script entirely:

Puerto Ricans abandoning the island… not for the United States, but for Spain. Yep — Spain, the same empire that once ruled Puerto Rico for over 400 years. And here’s the wild part: Lifelong Boricuas on the mainland aren’t exactly against the idea.

As much as Puerto Ricans love la Isla del Encanto — the palm trees, the beaches, the culture, the warmth — the truth is unavoidable: living on the island has become unbearably stressful. The cost of living, the political instability, the destroyed infrastructure, that broken power grid and a constant economic squeeze… It’s a pity, because Puerto Rico is a literal paradise. But paradise gets heavy when daily life feels like pure dread.

So the question slowly creeping into conversations is:

If the U.S. keeps giving Puerto Ricans the bare minimum (or nothing at all), then why not consider Spain instead?

👀Would Spain Even Want Us?

That’s the twist nobody wants to talk about. Because the reality is… Spain might not even want Puerto Ricans back.

The current Spanish president has already made eyebrow-raising statements — defending aspects of Spain’s colonial past, brushing off centuries of abuse as “historical context,” and casually downplaying the brutality that shaped the Caribbean. His father? Completely different stance. But, like everything in politics, it is what it is.

Spain may be polite, may appear all proper and welcoming — but would they roll out the red carpet?

Or would Puerto Ricans show up with high hopes only to face a different flavor of the same old treatment?

Sure, Spain has experience with influxes of migrants. It’s Europe’s geographical gateway for people crossing from the Americas, from North Africa, and from the Mediterranean region — by land or sea. But those are flows of migrants, waves of movement, not large-scale cultural resettlement.

Would Spain actually want long-term Puerto Rican residency? Citizenship? Integration? Recognition?
Or would we be seen as yet another group blowing through the door looking for basic dignity?
Would Puerto Ricans actually be treated better? That’s the million-dollar question.

Puerto Ricans today are tired — not just frustrated — tired of the United States’ chronic neglect. After over a century as U.S. citizens, Boricuas are still fighting for benefits, for funds, for a vote, some overdue recognition of respect. But it's still being sidelined. Still being told to wait. Still getting the short end of every political stick.

So when people ask:
“Would Spain give us more freedoms?” “Would we be treated better?” Not exactly absurd questions. It’s survival-level logic. Spain, for all its flaws, offers:

• Universal healthcare
• Strong worker protections
• Affordable education
• Public transit that actually works
• A European passport
• A social system that, for many, works better than anything the U.S. has ever offered its territories

But is the gamble worth it?

Because leaving Puerto Rico — only to return to the hands of the very nation that conquered and seized their ancestors — is demeaning. A seperate idea for abandoning the current U.S. territorial status in favor of becoming the eighteenth autonomous community of the Iberian Peninsula is circulating but for now, the proposal may function more as a form of protest or a statement about dissatisfaction than a concrete plan. It amplifies frustration with U.S. governance and highlights how some Puerto Ricans feel the current political status doesn’t respect their full identity and rights.

And so, here's the reality: Puerto Ricans are running out of options.

Here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud: Puerto Ricans are not fantasizing about Spain because they want to be Spanish again. They’re not nostalgic for colonial rule. They’re not eager to exchange one flag for another. They’re desperate for stability — something the U.S. keeps failing to deliver.

If Washington treated Puerto Ricans the way it treats actual states, this conversation wouldn’t even exist! But after decades of economic seepage, disasters handled like afterthoughts, political manipulation, second-class treatment, and broken promises… so, people now strongly consider the alternative.

And that is how Spain — of all places — re-enters the conversation. Not as a savior, and not as a fantasy, but as a potential escape hatch from a situation Puerto Ricans never asked for and can’t seem to repair.

Would Spain Take Us? Would We Go?

No one knows. This is messy. It’s uncomfortable, humiliating and, it’s politically awkward. But the fact that Boricuas - especially lifelong mainland Boricuas — are even entertaining the idea says something powerful: PUERTO RICO IS HURTING! And its people are tired of being forced to wait for the respect, support, and basic dignity they deserve.

Let's not split hairs here, the U.S. is going to continue to ignore the island. So, this notion may just very well be probable, albeit would take great effort and time to accumulate enough funds to exile and migrate over to Spain. What then?? Imo, this whole situation has gone past the point of salvation, so don’t be surprised if more Boricuas start looking east — across the Atlantic — and quietly thinking:

“Maybe… just maybe… Spain ain't that bad."

THE FOLLOWING BLOG ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED ON EXTERNAL SITES - IMAGERY BELOW LEADS TO MY OTHER WEBSITES

UPGRADE YOUR PUERTO RICAN HOLIDAY MENU BY RETIRING OUTDATED SLAVE FOOD

ISLAND PRIDE -VS- NUYORICAN REALITIES

AN ATTEMPT TO DECIPHER MY PUERTO RICAN DNA

A WATERED-DOWN BLOODLINE - ETHNIC CULLING AND GENOCIDE

ANOTHER LOSING BATTLE: CANCER DISPARITIES AMONG WOMEN OF COLOR, PRIMARILY BORICUAS

LOST TRADITIONS

ABOUT VOODOO'S LITTLE SISTER, SANTERIA