Argentina’s far-right president, Javier Milei, used an unofficial visit to Madrid on Wednesday to attack Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, calling him a “dictator” and urging Spaniards to vote the Socialists out, AFP reported. The remarks drew a formal rebuke from Spain’s Foreign Ministry and inserted a foreign flashpoint into an already charged campaign ahead of Spain’s Nov. 29 general election.
Milei made the remarks at an economic forum in the Spanish capital. He told attendees that Spaniards “are suffering under the disgraceful dictator Pedro Sánchez,” and added, “Kick the Socialists out, because you are the cradle of liberalism.” He also called Sánchez a “thief” and “corrupt.” The comments followed earlier rows between the two countries over insults directed at Sánchez and his family.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry condemned Milei for what it described as “external interference, attacks and insults” and criticized his “call for the use of violence,” saying in a statement that it was “shameful that a person who holds the highest office of a sister nation makes visits to our country with the only aim of trying to foster a climate of polarisation and violence,” AFP reported.
DCCC seeks ads criticizing GOP approach to AI and data centers across dozens of House races
Clock shows 2:57
Sánchez, who has served as prime minister for eight years and is widely described in the source material as a global progressive figure, has faced scrutiny at home over corruption investigations involving relatives and former party figures. He has repeatedly defended the integrity of his government and the sources of his party’s funding, and his campaign has used Milei’s interventions to mobilize left-wing voters against what the Socialists call a “reactionary international.”
On the campaign trail in the northern city of Burgos, Sánchez seized on Milei’s attack to draw a contrast with policy choices in Argentina. “The chainsaws and cuts that the right and the far right always make when they govern build nothing, rather they destroy … They don’t make our country or our economy grow, they sink them,” he said, according to AFP.
Milei did not meet with Sánchez during the Madrid visit. The self-described “anarcho-capitalist” instead met with leaders of Spain’s right-wing opposition, including figures from Vox and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the Popular Party leader of the Madrid region. At the forum he hailed Vox leader Santiago Abascal and Ayuso as “friends,” saying “they have sound, positive ideas for pulling Spain out of its decline.” Footage posted on social media showed Milei and Abascal holding a video call during which they joked about the insults and the reaction, the AFP account says.
Domestically, the main conservative opposition, the Popular Party, is predicted to win the most seats in the Nov. 29 election but to fall short of an overall majority, a situation that could give far-right Vox outsized influence over the formation of a new government, AFP reported.
The episode is the latest diplomatic flare-up between Madrid and Buenos Aires. In 2024, a diplomatic crisis erupted after Milei called Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, “corrupt,” prompting Spain to recall its ambassador to Argentina for several months, according to the source.
