Why do I feel stuck at an intermediate level in Spanish?

Feeling stuck at intermediate is extremely common, and it's mostly real, not in your head. Progress slows down because the easy gains are used up, the remaining words are rarer, and the beginner-style study that worked early on stops being enough. The way out is usually more real listening and speaking, not more of the same lessons.

Why the plateau happens

At the start, every hour adds a lot. You go from knowing nothing to ordering a coffee. At B1 and B2 you're already getting by, so each new hour adds less you can notice.

A few specific reasons it stalls:

The vocabulary gets rarer. The most common 2,000 words cover most daily talk. After that, each new word shows up less often, so learning them takes more exposure.
Good enough is comfortable. You get by with the same safe sentences. Without pressure, you stop trying new structures.
Apps run out of content. Most course material is aimed at beginners, so you feel like you're repeating things you already know.
Listening is still behind. You can read well but can't follow fast, natural speech.

Is it real or does it just feel that way?

Often both. Progress at this stage is real, but it's invisible. You're not learning "new things" you can name, you're slowly firming up things you half-know. It's like going from "I understand if they talk slowly" to "I understand them", which doesn't produce a milestone moment.

A quick check: can you follow content you couldn't three months ago? Re-listen to something old. If it feels easier, you're moving.

What to change

My take is that most plateaus come down to not switching strategy:

Add lots of listening and reading at your level. Aim for content where you understand most but not everything. Comprehensible input is the single biggest lever here.
Move from studying to using. Talk to someone, write a short journal, send voice notes. Use the vocabulary you've collected.
Learn from real content, not drills. Pick up words from shows, podcasts and stories. They stick better because they come with context.
Target your weak spot. If it's listening, do more listening. If it's speaking, schedule conversations. Don't keep polishing what you're already good at.
Keep a words notebook or deck of things you meet in real content and review them regularly. Full disclosure, I built Langtok with this loop in mind: you swipe through short stories, tap the words you don't know, save them and practice them in quizzes.

Don't just add "advanced" lessons

A common mistake is to start grinding grammar charts for the subjunctive or the less common tenses. Some of that helps, but most people at this stage know more grammar than they can use. The gap is fluency, speed and exposure. See how much grammar you really need.

Make progress visible

Track something concrete: hours of listening, number of conversations, new words from real content. It's easier to keep going when you can see it. A simple approach is in how to track your progress.

The plateau ends when your daily mix changes. It isn't a wall, it's a signal that you've outgrown the beginner tools.