New party Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF) has scored a major victory on the European Parliament elections by winning three of Spain’s allotted seats.
SALF, which translates as “The party is over”, was founded by social media personality Luis Pérez Fernández in early 2024 and now already rivals the Sumar party of Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, who obtained the same number of MEPs.
SALF received almost 5 per cent of the votes in Spain, ahead of more consolidated parties such as the progressive Podemos, the former coalition partner of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party, and the separatist Junts per Catalunya party of Carles Puigdemont.
Fernández, better known as Alvise, has been a controversial figure in Spanish politics, earning the praise of an online community of more than a million followers, and criticism from the Sánchez government.
According to the PM, together with the People’s Party (PP) and Vox, SALF was one of the “three lists of the international far-right” for the EP elections.
The 34-year-old, Sevillian born influencer Alvise became a critical voice regarding the Sánchez government during the Covid pandemic.
He has also gained a reputation for revealing what he has presented as damaging information about some politicians and the media.
In 2020, he claimed to have information showing that the former mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, allegedly received a personal respirator during the height of Covid “to avoid going to a public hospital like the rest of Spaniards”. Critics claimed Alvise was guilty of making unverified claims.
In 2020, he was sued for suggesting the fact-checking news outlet Newtral had links with the Socialist Party. The judge dismissed that lawsuit.
According to Alvise, “Spain has become a party for the corrupt.”
SALF celebrated its EP results at a disco in Madrid city centre the night of June 9.
In a speech there targeting the traditional Spanish “left and right-wing caste”, Alvise said: “We do not want more resources for the police to go after narco-traffickers, criminals, and the corrupt.
“We want to put you in jail, and the same with Pedro Sánchez.”
Alvise addressed the Spanish premier directly during his speech, saying: “Pedro you are on your way out.
“You better hide in a trunk because we are going to throw you in jail.”
Alvise had also complained the mainstream media did not give him the same exposure granted to other political groups during the campaign for the European elections.
It is as yet unclear what group SALF will join up with in the European Parliament.
