You are bringing up a few very interesting points, Olibritt.
I completely agree that talent knows no geography and with help from a combination of luck and circumstance, it will surface against all the odds. Whether it will be nurtured or wasted is another matter of course.
We could even say that a skater like Javi was destined to be noticed exactly because, as you say, he didn't have much competition growing up. He was in no risk of drowning in a sea of talent when there were so few Spanish kids taking up skating in the first place, especially compared to the sheer numbers flocking to the ice every day in big powerhouse nations like Russia, Japan or Canada. It must be incredibly tough for a novice to stand out in these countries for example. And who knows how much talent gets wasted, late bloomer kids and the like, who get sidelined by their own coaches simply because there are others showing more promise at the time who they would have eventually surpassed.
However, I do think that absolute numbers are an incredibly important driving force in how far top talent can get. Sure enough, they haven't translated to an Olympic gold medal in the men's event for Canada yet, and Russia didn't even have a medalist last time. But if we look at the broader Olympic picture for those two nations, Russia is the only country ever that has been able to produce 4 consecutive gold medals from 4 different men. And the number of medals Canada has won is only surpassed by the US. Those medalists are the tip of the iceberg representing the incredible amount of talent and expertise these countries have. Or to say it more bluntly, so many people on whose backs those guys were able to climb to the top. Just consider for example that Javi reportedly had to learn the 3A pretty much by himself because there was no coach in Spain able to teach the technique, and no Spanish skater had ever landed one before, for Javi to learn from by watching. Russian skaters probably can't even imagine that circumstance, having so much talent on the ice and expertise behind the boards to learn from.
So if we look at countries like Spain where figure skating is a minority sport, or small ones in terms of population like Finland, outstanding talent can absolutely rise there too, just as it has done with Javi, and with Rakhamo/Kokko and that brief era of top Finnish ladies. But such talented skaters look to be mostly outliers for now, with a lot depending on the long term impact they make in their country. But just look at what Yuna has unleashed in South Korea, and the incredible number of novice and now junior girls waiting to explode to the world stage. My guess is that must have occurred as a combination of the number of girls wanting to become the next Yuna, and probably South Korea now taking figure skating seriously as a sport. We have yet to see what sort of change Javi can bring about in Spain. Not just in the number of kids being inspired by his example to take up skating. Also in the support the sport will get, where it seems Javi will have to become the key figure too. Did anyone notice the exchange between the president of the Spanish ice sports federation and the president of the Spanish higher sports council during Javi's press conference just before Christmas? The sports fed guy was apparently making a point that skating is the only Olympic sport which doesn't have a high performance center in Spain, and the president of the higher sports council responded that until Javi can start coaching kids himself, skating will have to continue using the currently existing facilities.
I completely agree that talent knows no geography and with help from a combination of luck and circumstance, it will surface against all the odds. Whether it will be nurtured or wasted is another matter of course.
We could even say that a skater like Javi was destined to be noticed exactly because, as you say, he didn't have much competition growing up. He was in no risk of drowning in a sea of talent when there were so few Spanish kids taking up skating in the first place, especially compared to the sheer numbers flocking to the ice every day in big powerhouse nations like Russia, Japan or Canada. It must be incredibly tough for a novice to stand out in these countries for example. And who knows how much talent gets wasted, late bloomer kids and the like, who get sidelined by their own coaches simply because there are others showing more promise at the time who they would have eventually surpassed.
However, I do think that absolute numbers are an incredibly important driving force in how far top talent can get. Sure enough, they haven't translated to an Olympic gold medal in the men's event for Canada yet, and Russia didn't even have a medalist last time. But if we look at the broader Olympic picture for those two nations, Russia is the only country ever that has been able to produce 4 consecutive gold medals from 4 different men. And the number of medals Canada has won is only surpassed by the US. Those medalists are the tip of the iceberg representing the incredible amount of talent and expertise these countries have. Or to say it more bluntly, so many people on whose backs those guys were able to climb to the top. Just consider for example that Javi reportedly had to learn the 3A pretty much by himself because there was no coach in Spain able to teach the technique, and no Spanish skater had ever landed one before, for Javi to learn from by watching. Russian skaters probably can't even imagine that circumstance, having so much talent on the ice and expertise behind the boards to learn from.
So if we look at countries like Spain where figure skating is a minority sport, or small ones in terms of population like Finland, outstanding talent can absolutely rise there too, just as it has done with Javi, and with Rakhamo/Kokko and that brief era of top Finnish ladies. But such talented skaters look to be mostly outliers for now, with a lot depending on the long term impact they make in their country. But just look at what Yuna has unleashed in South Korea, and the incredible number of novice and now junior girls waiting to explode to the world stage. My guess is that must have occurred as a combination of the number of girls wanting to become the next Yuna, and probably South Korea now taking figure skating seriously as a sport. We have yet to see what sort of change Javi can bring about in Spain. Not just in the number of kids being inspired by his example to take up skating. Also in the support the sport will get, where it seems Javi will have to become the key figure too. Did anyone notice the exchange between the president of the Spanish ice sports federation and the president of the Spanish higher sports council during Javi's press conference just before Christmas? The sports fed guy was apparently making a point that skating is the only Olympic sport which doesn't have a high performance center in Spain, and the president of the higher sports council responded that until Javi can start coaching kids himself, skating will have to continue using the currently existing facilities.
This time in 
I watched some of the other ones and the pranks are rather elaborate and relatively well prepared, so at least all three persons I saw were completely fooled by the set-up. I also wondered how they choose the topics - eg the first one was a small meteorite falling, the other voice-flying a drone and then Javi's Picasso drawing. The makers must have had to collaborate with someone close to the victims somehow to get an insight what would work?!
I hope Javi didn't freeze, sliding across the ice on his belly in that tiny jacket. 
