Since there have been several requests for <span> tags not only from me over the past several months, but also from other users, most recently twice this week on the Village Pump, I have opened
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Span_tags_poll
to let the people speak on whether or not they want to allow <span> tags. I hope that if there is a consensus to support <span> tags, then the developers will enable them.
- David