Span lets you use a ranged for loop to iterate over the contents without worrying about exceeding the bounds, which is safer than pointer+size if that's all you'll be doing. C++26 also introduces .at() for span, and the new hardened standard library enforces bounds checking when using operator [] on a span.

Well if compilation time is an issue, you chose the worst possible language to use. But if you must use C++, you should use the mechanisms that best communicate intent.