An ‘expats go home’ activist has hit out at A Place in the Sun for promoting properties in Spain to British buyers in the UK.
Barcelona-based Carlos Ramirez, known online as Calva Tatuada, shared footage of presenter Jasmine Harman promoting the A Place in the Sun property exhibition to his Instagram Story.
Across the footage he wrote: ‘We need 28 years to buy a flat and over there they’re raffling off the houses in our country.’
He then added the word ‘NEOCOLONIZADORES’ (neocolonisers) in huge red letters across the bottom of the post.
The clip featured Harman – who herself is now an expat in Estepona – promoting A Place in the Sun Live, the exhibition spin-off from the long-running Channel 4 property programme.
The events are specifically aimed at people interested in purchasing homes overseas, bringing together estate agents, lawyers and other property experts alongside presenters from the TV show.
Its upcoming Birmingham exhibition at the NEC is scheduled for September 18-20, with Harman advertised as one of the presenters offering advice to prospective overseas buyers.
Ramirez’s attack comes amid a fierce debate in Spain over the effect that foreign buyers, digital nomads and wealthier newcomers are having on a housing market that has become increasingly unaffordable for many locals.
And it is far from the first time the tattooed activist has taken aim at the expat population.
Ramirez, who has the words ‘tourists go home, refugees welcome’ tattooed on his body, previously told KLAB that his campaign was not against immigration generally, but against what he views as a privileged class of foreign residents arriving with far greater spending power than locals.
‘These people are white, they are rich… an expat is precisely this, a person who comes here in a privileged position, because they arrive with greater purchasing power,’ he said.
He accused some foreign arrivals of taking advantage of rules such as Spain’s so-called Beckham Law while contributing to the gentrification of local neighbourhoods.
‘They live in a bubble of privilege, in which they have always gotten their way,’ Ramirez said.
He also claimed some expats view their presence in Spain as inherently beneficial because of the money they spend.
‘They say, ‘But what’s happening? I’m a guiri, right? You have to appreciate that I’ve chosen your city because I’m leaving money here’,’ he said.
‘They see themselves as the saviours of our sinking economy… when really they are not understanding the problem and how they are a part of it.’
The Beckham Law allows qualifying workers moving to Spain to be taxed under a special regime, including a 24% rate on qualifying employment income up to €600,000, rather than the standard progressive income-tax system.
Ramirez has argued that the combination of higher foreign salaries and favourable tax treatment gives some newcomers substantially more disposable income than Spanish residents.
That disparity has become particularly contentious in property hotspots such as Barcelona, Malaga and the Costa del Sol, where housing affordability has become one of the most politically charged issues.
