 At Gijón, he earned the nickname "Tibu" (diminutive of "Tiburón", shark in Spanish) for his goal celebrations, in which he pretended to have a shark's fin in his head.Álvarez also participated in the resurrection of the unofficial Galician national team in December 2005, playing their first game after 75 years against Uruguay.He signed for Deportivo de La Coruña on a Bosman transfer in August 2006.