For the thousands of Brits who live in Spain, seeing fuming protesters chant ‘guiris go home’ could understandably be concerning.

In increasingly familiar scenes, locals in Malaga and Cadiz took to the streets for another demonstration against the housing crisis at the weekend.

Among the crowds were the usual provocative placards reading ‘expats go home’ or ‘guiris not welcome’.

The signs elicited a string of defensive comments from foreign residents, who fumed about how much money they spend in their respective local communities and how they’ve paid their fair share of taxes.

And they’re not alone in feeling that way. I myself have suffered for years at the hands of the Spanish taxman.

When I first moved to Spain over 10 years ago, I was barely surviving on a legally questionable salary of just €450 a month.

Like many young people starting out, I worked long hours for little reward, trying to build a life in a country I had fallen in love with.

Since then I’ve paid taxes year after year and now my autonomo contributions and quarterly tax returns – and I watch a significant chunk of my invoices vanish before it even reaches my account.

Even today, there are months where it still feels like I’m barely scraping by once the Hacienda, social security and business costs have all taken their share.

So when protesters carry banners saying ‘tourists go home’ or ‘guiris go home’, I don’t take it personally – because they are not talking about me.

Nor do I think most of them expect every British retiree, German family or Dutch remote worker to pack up their bags and leave.

They’re doing what protest movements have always done which is grab as much attention as possible.

The more provocative the slogan, the more headlines they generate, in turn placing more pressure on politicians to respond.

If their banners simply read ‘We would like better housing policy’, nobody outside Spain would notice.

I’ve covered such protests across the country, from Tenerife and Mallorca to Alicante and Barcelona. After speaking to activists, you realise their frustration isn’t really directed at ordinary foreigners.

It’s directed at governments that have failed to build enough affordable homes and who have allowed neighbourhoods to become dominated by tourist apartments.

In many tourist hotspots, wages have also stagnated while rents have climbed relentlessly.

Whether you agree with every demand or not, that’s a much more complicated conversation than ‘foreigners bad’.

That said, there is another debate entirely when it comes to digital nomads raking it in on the Beckham Law.

While those numbers are relatively few, they can feel significant when concentrated in areas like Barcelona and Malaga city.

If you’re earning a very high international salary while benefiting from favourable tax schemes designed to attract wealthy foreign workers, it’s understandable that some Spaniards question whether those policies are pushing housing costs even higher.

That’s a legitimate discussion, but it shouldn’t be confused with the experience of the average foreign resident who’s paying Spanish taxes, contributing to the local economy and trying to make ends meet like everyone else.

Regardless, I’ve never felt unwelcome living in Spain. The country is overwhelmingly warm and accepting.

So when you see a ‘guiris go home’ banner, don’t panic and book the next flight back to blighty – because they’re probably not talking about you.