Even the root comment mentions the exact same failure mode:

> If you need extra elements for styling at that point, you might use a div or span (but you should ask yourself if there's something better first).

This is IMO not worse than vanilla CSS, and it's simply the only way to have customizable layouting in HTML.

What are the cases when you have to use divs or spans solely for design? When I did such things, it’s only because I was sloppy, or didn’t know back then how to do it without it. But maybe, there are cases, I’ve just never encountered them yet.