Having many many times driven across France from the south-east up to the north at Calais I can tell you that France does indeed have huge pylons on display and also that many valleys have these things straddle them with hanging markers to alert low-flying aircraft. But villages and towns may be different: I would be fibbing if I pretended to have noticed either excess or lack of wires; what I noted above all was the lovely way the French spend money on flowers to decorate their living places, town or village. It is something to behold.
Spain does nothing like that, at least, not here in the Balearics! Wires festoon buildings, poles rise from pavements at odd angles, even "tourist" villages, quaint old inland spots that boast stone houses that sell for zillions, make no attempt to hide the ugly things - maybe it´s because they are just too pleased to have the services! Also, unlike many parts of Europe, the land is basically rock: think of the cost of digging channels for all these services.
But, in the end, I think it comes down not to economics but aesthetics and a sense of, or not. Or perhaps it´s the price of too much growth too quickly to catch the boom years...
Rob C