Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Madrid on Friday afternoon, embarking on a European tour that will also include a visit to Germany this weekend.
However, the ultra-liberal Milei has been rejected by the left-wing Spanish government King Felipe VI – no meetings with him are planned during this first part of the trip.
During a European election campaign organized by the Spanish right-wing populist party Vox in May, Milei sharply attacked the prime minister. Pedro Sanchez and called his wife, Begoña Gómez, “corrupt.”
The Spanish Foreign Minister in turn accused Milei – who describes himself as an “anarcho-capitalist” – of a “frontal attack on our democracy, on our institutions and on Spain”.
Milei rejected a request to publicly apologize and has since continued his verbal attacks.
Milei was celebrated like a rock star in Madrid in May. He thrilled the more than 10,000 participants at the meeting with statements such as: socialism leads ‘to slavery or death’ or social justice is ‘always unjust’.
Numerous high-ranking politicians from abroad were also present, including France’s Marine Le Pen, Portugal’s André Ventura and Israel’s Minister of Social Equality, Amichai Chikli.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joined via video conference and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a message.
During his current visit, Milei plans to meet with the conservative president of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who is expected to present him with a medal.
The central government accused Ayuso of trying to ‘provoke’ Sánchez. Milei also receives a prize from a liberal foundation.
The Argentinian is expected to be in Hamburg on Saturday and will meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Sunday. The final stop on his European tour is the Czech Republic.
