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Spain has permanently recalled its ambassador to Argentina in an escalating dispute over criticism levelled at the wife of its prime minister by Argentine President Javier Milei.
José Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, said on Tuesday that “Argentina will have to continue without a Spanish ambassador”, as outrage simmers in government over Milei’s comments during a visit to Madrid.
Argentina’s libertarian president did not meet Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during his explosive three-day trip, but while speaking at a far-right rally at the weekend, he branded Sánchez’s wife as “corrupt” and described socialism as “cancerous”.
Albares described Milei’s remarks as a “frontal attack” on Spain.
“There is no precedent for a leader coming to the capital of another country to insult its institutions,” he said.
Milei has shown no sign of backing down. He rebuffed Sánchez’s call for a “public apology” late on Monday and accused the Spanish premier of being in league with Argentina’s left-leaning opposition Peronist movement.
On Tuesday, he said Sánchez’s decision was “a typical crazy [decision] for an arrogant socialist” and that he would not withdraw his own ambassador from Spain.
The worsening diplomatic dispute raises the potential for turbulence for investment and the economy. Spanish businesses are the second-largest investors in Argentina after US companies.
Milei’s comments, which alluded to a preliminary judicial investigation into Sánchez’s wife Begoña Gómez, echoed what the prime minister has said was a rightwing smear campaign against him. The judicial probe into Sánchez’s wife was prompted by a complaint from a group with far-right links.
On Sunday, Albares recalled ambassador María Jesús Alonso Jiménez for consultations, but his latest words signalled that she would not be sent back.
Spain is maintaining diplomatic relations with Argentina and no other embassy staff are being recalled, but Albares said the embassy would now be led by its chargé d’affaires, the number two official.
In a television interview on Monday, Milei said: “The tour of Spain has shown that I am the world’s greatest exponent of freedom. I am in another league.” He added that events showed “how stupid” other Argentine politicians were. “They would love to be where I am.”
He also accused Sánchez of hypocrisy for “crying interference” after he had publicly endorsed Sergio Massa, Milei’s Peronist opponent at Argentina’s 2023 elections.
Spain’s rightwing opposition has criticised Milei for not meeting the king, government or parliament during his visit, but has also slammed Sánchez for turning his wife into “a matter of state”.
Sánchez has described any supposed wrongdoing in his wife’s case as “non-existent” and Gómez has not spoken about the allegations.
Spain’s decision is the most serious diplomatic consequence yet of the eccentric foreign policy that Milei has pursued since taking office in December. The leader has regularly met and praised hard-right former leaders, while snubbing leftist incumbents in countries that have been Argentina’s traditional allies.
In March, Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro briefly withdrew his country’s ambassador in Buenos Aires, after Milei called him a “murderous terrorist” in an interview. But the two countries said days later that they had agreed on the return of the diplomats.
Ties with Spain began to deteriorate earlier this month when Spanish transport minister Óscar Puente suggested Milei had “ingested substances” before a TV appearance. Milei called the claims “slander”.
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