An ingenious expat has turned an “offensive” nickname often given to British people in Spain on its head by using it as the moniker for his new clothing brand.
Entrepreneur Tom Hopcroft, 31, from Birmingham, moved to Spain almost a decade ago after falling for a Spanish girl and recently launched his own lifestyle brand, guiris de mierda.
Mr Hopcroft describes himself as a “professional guiri”, guiri being a Spanish term sometimes used as a derogatory slur for British people, or foreigners in general.
The word “guiri” first appears in the Spanish Real Academia Dictionary in 1925 to describe supporters of the Austro-Spanish Queen Cristina who was viewed as “foreign” and “light-skinned” compared to her subjects.
More recently the term has been used graffiti daubed on walls in areas like Tenerife alongside messages such as “tourists go home”.
Writing in El Pais, Spanish author Alex Grijelmo said guiri could be used to describe someone is “sunburnt” and who “generally looks hot and bothered”.
But expat newspaper Olive Press reports Mr Hopcroft has cleverly taken the slur and owned it for his brand under the motto “Embrace your inner guiri and stop taking yourself so seriously”.
He told the publication: “We try to set a good example that not all guiris are the type that get smashed, get battered, and drink for five days straight.
“Some guiris want to give back to Spain, and so we are working with charities now, organising charity events and promoting the integration side of things”.
On the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife tensions have recently reached boiling point between visiting British tourists and expats and the local population.
Anti-tourist graffitit has been going up around the island where some locals feel they have been priced out of accommodation by holiday lets.
But UK tourists have been fighting back writing things like “we pay your wages” on some of the xenophobic statements, and even “f**k off”.
