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Agence France-Presse

Argentina’s President Javier Milei fired off more insults at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, even as Madrid withdrew its ambassador in a diplomatic spat between the two countries.
Milei branded Sanchez an “arrogant socialist” with an “inferiority complex” and recommended he see a psychologist, further stoking tensions on Tuesday.
Argentina’s fiery libertarian president was reacting to Spain withdrawing its ambassador to Buenos Aires over the weekend after Milei said Sanchez had a “corrupt wife”.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the envoy “will remain definitively in Madrid. Argentina will no longer have a Spanish ambassador”.

“There is no precedent for a head of state coming to the capital of another country to insult its institutions and blatantly interfere in its internal affairs,” he told a press conference.
Milei swiftly responded to Madrid’s move, saying it was “absurd, typical of an arrogant socialist”.
Later, on X, he continued to provoke Sanchez, announcing he would return to Madrid on June 21 to receive an award from a liberal institute.
“We will see how deep the totalitarianism runs in his blood … We will see if his great inferiority complex allows the Spanish liberals to award me in person,” wrote Milei.
Milei caused outrage with an attack on socialism at the weekend while at a Madrid conference organised by the far-right Vox party.
“The global elites don’t realise how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism,” Milei said.
“They don’t know the type of society and country that can produce, the type of people clinging to power and the level of abuse that generates.”
He added: “When you have a corrupt wife, let’s say, it gets dirty, and you take five days to think about it”.

Sanchez, a Socialist, recently considered resigning after Spanish prosecutors opened a preliminary corruption investigation against his wife, Begona Gomez, which was quickly closed.
Within hours of Milei’s attack, Spain recalled its ambassador and Albares condemned the visiting president’s “insult”.
He demanded a “public apology” from Milei, who refused to back down, describing the Spanish premier as a “coward”.
“I am in no way going to apologise to him,” he said during an interview with the TN channel on Monday.
“I’m the one who was attacked,” Milei added, recalling that representatives of the Spanish government had described him as “xenophobic, racist, ultra-right … a science denier, a misogynist”.
Milei’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino attempted to reduce the acrimony, saying the incident was merely “an anecdote” that should not impact the bond between Spain and its former colony.
However, a group of lawmakers allied with Milei’s ruling party in Congress demanded “restraint” from the president.
“In just five months, he has generated constant diplomatic crises due to his ideological bias, his intolerant fanaticism towards certain ideals … compromising Argentina’s” relations with countries like China, the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Spain, they said.
Milei arrived in Spain on Friday and there was immediate diplomatic friction as no meetings with Sanchez or King Felipe VI were organised.
Sanchez supported Milei’s rival Sergio Massa in the November election that brought him to power and had not contacted Argentina’s new leader since his victory.
A self-declared “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei was an outspoken outsider who swept to victory in a country weary of traditional politics and an economic crisis that has seen inflation levels of 290 per cent year-on-year.
He has instituted an austerity programme that has seen the government slash public subsidies, and has shown no sign of biting his tongue.
Diplomatic tensions between Spain and Argentina had been rising for weeks, and have now started to worry Spanish companies that invest US$15 billion annually in Argentina.
Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente angered Buenos Aires by suggesting this month that Milei was on drugs.
Puente later conceded he had made a “mistake”, saying he was not aware of the repercussions his comments would have, and Buenos Aires said the dispute was “over”.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg.


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Diplomacy

Argentina’s Milei keeps insults flying as Spain withdraws its ambassador

Argentinian’s President Javier Milei’s called the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ‘corrupt’. Photo: AFP

Argentina’s President Javier Milei delivering a speech in Madrid on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Spain’s embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo: AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Gomez. File photo: AFP

Argentina angry after Spain accuses President Javier Milei of drug use

Argentina’s President Javier Milei. Photo: AP

Spain’s Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Photo: EPA-EFE

Spain’s Pedro Sanchez to continue as prime minister after stopping to ‘reflect’ on his future

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he will continue in office “even with more strength” after days of reflection. Photo: AP

A person walks next to TVs broadcasting the statement by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatens to quit amid right-wing attacks on wife

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife, Begona Gomez, leave after meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in October 2020. Photo: Reuters

Supporters waving flags as they gather in front of the headquarters of PSOE, Spain’s Socialist party, in Madrid on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

People’s Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo speaks during a plenary session at the Spanish lower house in Madrid on April 10. Photo: AFP

Barking mad? Argentina leader Javier Milei’s attachment to ‘ghost’ dog raises sanity worries

Argentina’s Javier Milei gives the thumb up after receiving the presidential sash and baton during his inauguration ceremony at the Congress in Buenos Aires in December 2023. Photo: AFP

Five dogs belonging to Argentine leader Javier Milei have been engraved on the presidential baton. Photo: Luciano Ingaramo/Argentina’s Senate via AFP

Javier Milei brandishes a chainsaw during a campaign event in La Plata, Argentina, in September 2023. Photo: AP

A woman walks her dog past police after they dispersed an anti-government protest in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 10. Photo: AP

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Diplomatic crisis between historic allies Spain and Argentina expanded as leaders trade barbs
Argentina’s president made derogatory comments about the wife of Spain’s prime minister


Spain withdrew its ambassador to Buenos Aires in an escalation of its response to Argentine President Javier Milei’s derogatory comments about the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.


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Argentina’s Milei keeps insults flying as Spain withdraws its ambassador

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Diplomatic crisis between historic allies Spain and Argentina expanded as leaders trade barbs Argentina’s president made derogatory comments about the wife of Spain’s prime minister

Diplomatic crisis between historic allies Spain and Argentina expanded as leaders trade barbs

Argentina’s president made derogatory comments about the wife of Spain’s prime minister