I will never stop thanking you for everything you do. For them, for Spain. You are responsible for a management that should be done by others, but thank God we have you. (…) I am sending you all the energy and I hope I can see you soon and help you by your side. And I hope I can hug these people and give all my energy and contribute even a little bit.

These words could come from any social media account, but Carlos Alcaraz captured them in a video that went viral on social media. The person who received the praise was Ángel Gaitán, one of the most controversial names of the days after DANA in Valencia and the name that attracted the most attention.

Cell phone in the air, sports jacket, a green glove and videos from ground zero. It’s very likely that anyone who didn’t know Gaitán before the Valencia tragedy was already able to put a face and a voice to a fixer who got Gaitán into this situation. influencerbecame a talk show host and created hatred and extreme defensiveness For “publicizing” the volunteer work he has been doing in the areas most affected by DANA in Valencia in recent days.

Videos on TikTok, posts on social networks and appearances at Horizonte, directed by Iker Jiménez, have resulted in the rise to stardom of a figure who has left behind his controversies with the world of motorsport, transcending and retransforming his own figure and profiling himself politically. becomes visible only people save people.

A broken elbow, a Tesla and Horizon

“While I was driving, the engine fell on me and I broke my elbow.” Unable to carry out his daily work, Ángel Gaitán took his mobile phone, opened a TikTok account and began to explain what his job consisted of.

At least that’s what he said in an interview. World In March 2023. He later claimed that he was surprised by the impact of a video of himself assembling and disassembling a BMW X6. The year was 2021. Since that video, Gaitán has gained 3.8 million followers on TikTok and two million followers on Instagram.

In record time, the mechanic began to gain influence on social networks. Clear, simple language and a message that resonates with the public: “My colleagues criticized me for telling secrets that only mechanics should know, but I think it’s one thing to know how to do something and another thing to get customers to do it. The more transparent the better,” he said. he argues in the same interview.

The secrets quickly turned into complaints aimed at a large part of the industry: other workshops, dealers, the manufacturers themselves, gas stations. low cost, environmental policies… and eventually Tesla, the brand that gave birth to Gaitán mainstream of social networks.

He took advantage of his popularity on TikTok to publish his lawsuit against Tesla. Gaitán claims that he purchased a Tesla Model S but soon started hearing a noise. This noise was what he considered a factory defect due to poor welding of the car. The company refused to refund the money for the defect and offered to repair it, which he refused. He won the first case against the company, which objected to the penalty in 2022. That same year, the courts once again agreed with him.

The Tesla trial opens two avenues for Gaitán. First, to reveal the so-called truth hidden behind electric cars. For starters, with Tesla delivering cars serious factory defects (always according to the mechanic), the focus then expanded to all types of electric cars that only allow you to travel a few dozen kilometers if the weather is cold.

The second way is the media. Gaitán begins receiving calls from different outlets and begins appearing on morning shows where his focus is expanded. The mechanic who has made the motoring world his roost expresses his view on the labor market with phrases like “people don’t want to work, there’s no commitment.”

“I’m not racist but Yes, I get very angry about these,” he emphasizes in the video responding to an intervention at TVE. What Gaitán is referring to is the alleged case of Issam, a Moroccan worker who took tests to work in the mechanic. He went to the workshop and after a year of trying to get his situation in order disappeared overnight.

Gradually Gaitán begins to gain influence and space on television networks, mostly with discussions about the future of the automobile and the electric car. On this climb, he became a regular on Horizonte, led by Iker Jiménez.

“My name is Ángel Gaitán and I am a fascist”

Horizonte has garnered all kinds of controversy since it was introduced on air. The program grew with a strong political charge anthill or morning matinees with Ana Rosa Quintana and Susanna Griso as the main representatives.

Horizonte has been defended as a “truth teller” and almost equally as a mouthpiece for frauds. But Valencia’s DANA was the center of attention. Their coverage of the tragedy, including the firing of a collaborator for getting mud on himself before a live show, was bolstered by Ángel Gaitán’s work at ground zero.

The mechanic soon came to Valencia to volunteer to help. A job done portray without errors on social networks And this was not without controversy. From showing off their own vans with aid sent to affected towns, to opening an area to receive donations for Valencia. He paralyzed some of the 1.2 million euro donations he received because “they would fry me with taxes” and thought that this benefited the company.

Along the way we saw how to open a survey (using likes deciding which town they would go to that night to help and unload their supplies, or the “defense” of the gypsy people. The green glove is always the flag.

The Valencia tragedy became the perfect breeding ground for escalating the situation. influencers more reactionary. Especially those who shout at politicians, those who describe Spain as a “failed state” and those who shout that “only the people can save the people.” Messages also expressed by journalists such as the far-right trying to make a profit on social networks or Juan Manuel de Prada writing a controversial column in the newspaper ABC.

Ángel Gaitán mustered the courage to change his public image and enter the field of populism. On the set of Horizonte, he defended the Spanish flag he was holding by saying “My name is Ángel Gaitán and I am a fascist” and later argued that the concept should be redefined. “I realized being a fascist was something like that I thought this was normal. Being Spanish, loving your country, doing things for others…” Gaitán defended himself.

The speech is Gaitán’s latest move to remain at the center of social media controversy and continue to garner media coverage. From the mechanic influencerrelated to influencer to a Tertullian and to the slogan of a speech from a Tertullian that asks us to believe that Spain is a failed state.

Photo | Ángel Gaitán and the National Police

in Xataka | Spain must start raising awareness of a true “emergency culture”. We have many examples to examine