HE went to university in Leeds, was once a member of the Liberal Democrats, and has been likened to both Javier Milei, the firebrand populist Argentine President, and Nayib Bukele, the hard-right leader of El Salvador.
Alvise Perez, a 34-year old online influencer from Sevilla, was one of the surprise packages of Sunday’s European elections which saw a dramatic surge in support for the far-right across the continent.
He is the leader of Se Acabó La Fiesta (The Party Is Over), an insurgent anti-establishment movement with no manifesto that won three seats in the European Parliament thanks to 800,000 votes – nearly five per cent of all those cast in Spain.
Alvise has slowly built up his profile online, and has now amassed over 1.8million followers across various social media platforms, although his account is currently suspended on X.
He has even promised to distribute the budget his party will receive from the EU – at least €2 million a year – to his followers on social media, who call themselves ‘squirrels’.
Born in the Andalusian capital, Luis Perez Fernandez studied political science at the National University of Distance Education, although he dropped out after a year-and-a-half.
Adopting the pseudonym of Alvise, he moved to Leeds at the age of 22, working as a dishwasher before studying PPE for a year at the city’s university.
Whilst living in England, Alvise supported the Liberal Democrats and became the first ever Spanish delegate at the International Federation of Liberal Youth general assembly not to be a Catalan nationalist.
Upon his return to Spain, Alvise joined Ciudidanos, the liberal political party led by Albert Rivera, but was soon dismissed after he tweeted controversial statements on immigration, Muslims and violence against women.
After being kicked out of the party, Alvise’s political opinions drifted further and further right, and he soon took up the role of an alt-right online vigilante, railing against the ‘deep state’ and claiming to be a ‘staunch defender of the truth and the fight against political corruption’.
His role as a professional provocateur has landed Avile in hot water with legal cases involving Spain’s former public works minister Jose Luis Abalos, the current transport minister Oscar Puente, La Sexta journalist Ana Pastor and even the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s daughter, whom Alvise posted a photography of on his Telegram channel.
He is facing a number of defamation charges for spreading alleged misinformation on his social media accounts, mainly targeted at left-wing politicians and journalists.
The alt-right influencer even admitted that his decision to run for public office during the European election campaign was rooted in the need to gain immunity from prosecution.
In the run-up to last Sunday’s vote, Alvise promised to build the world’s largest prison, stating he would imprison every person in Spain with a gang tattoo.
He also ran anti-abortion protests, labelled journalists as ‘whores’, said he ‘must destroy the system and rebuild it from scratch’ and complained that immigrants require less paperwork to arrive into Spain than a tomato does to leave a field.
He even criticised Belgium, the seat of the European Parliament, labelling the nation state as a ‘failed country full of Islamists, insecurity and rapes’.
Speaking after his party’s surprise electoral success, Alvise said: “Spain has become a festival for corruption, mercenaries, pedophiles and rapists”.
His party won nearly as many votes as Sumar, the left-wing coalition partner in PM Sanchez’s government, prompting its leader and Deputy PM Yolanda Diaz to resign.
