guiri

Pronounced GEE-ree, this word is the Castillian Spanish equivalent of the New World/Mexican word gringo. It is used to refer, (generally in the third person), to foreigners in Spain, especially tourists.

The word is usually used neutrally, but in the right (or perhaps, wrong) tone of voice, it can be quite acerbic. There is nothing offensive about calling someone a guiri in itself, but like many tourist destinations, Spanish citizens seem to have a love-hate relationship with tourism, (a financial lifeline in many parts of the world, including Spain). On the one hand, the revenue and economic prosperity brought in by guiris is very welcome, while on the other hand, it would be nice if we would get out of the way sometimes. Or stop expecting that everyone in Spain speak English, (in the case of American guiris).

If you are traveling in Spain and don´t want the world to know that you are, in fact, a guiri, try, at a minimum, to avoid dressing like one. Avoid the guiri/gringo uniform, described excellently here. And for God´s sake, don't wear a fanny pack.

Guiri is one of a number of popular terms in colloquial European Spanish which denote groups of people not of Spanish origin. It is perhaps the least offensive of a group including moro, sudaca, bolchevique and arguably gavacho. The term has its origin in Euskera, the language of the Basque people. It's first recorded use in Spanish was during the civil wars, or Carlist Wars of the nineteenth century, when the so-called Carlists, supporters of the pretender to the Spanish throne, Charles V, used guiri as an insulting term for their opponents.

Currently the correct use and meaning of guiri is a subject of some debate. While the word is sometimes used as a catch-all term for foreigners in general or more specifically foreign tourists in Spain, it is most often used to describe either Northern Europeans, or people from Anglophone countries (in both cases generally for people of stereotypically Northern European appearance). While many Spaniards consider guiri to be at worst a neutral term, with no real negative connotations, it clearly fits into the category of terms listed above- moro, a correct and neutral term in many historical contexts, but in current usage as applied to any North African or Arab is clearly frowned upon; sudaca, for South Americans, particularly those with an identifiably non-European appearance, is perhaps the most offensive of all; bolchevique refers to any Russian or Eastern European:  its use would not be considered polite in educated company. The odd man out is gavacho, which while being intentionally disrespectful only applies to the French, as opposed to a larger, stereotyped macro-national grouping. Thus while guiri may conjure up largely benign images for the average Spaniard, it lives in an undesirable linguistic neighbourhood.