Milei Calls Sanchez a Dictator During Madrid Visit and Urges Spaniards to Oust the Socialists
Argentine President Javier Milei called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a dictator at an economic forum in Madrid, six weeks before the November 29 election, and urged Spanish voters to remove the Socialists from power.
Argentine President Javier Milei called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a dictator during remarks at an economic forum in Madrid on October 21, just over six weeks before Spain's general election on November 29. Milei also urged Spanish voters to remove the Socialists from power, and criticized European left wing parties over what he described as economic stagnation and a mistaken immigration policy.
Milei did not meet with Sanchez during the visit. Instead, he held meetings with Vox leader Santiago Abascal and with Madrid regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso, whose ideas he praised as sound and positive.
Sanchez responded to the criticism with a video posted on social media in which he said he was proud to be called a zurdo, a term Milei and the far right use disparagingly for left wing activism, reclaiming the label rather than rejecting it.
Milei has traveled to Spain on several occasions since taking office in late 2023, and often appears alongside figures from the Spanish right. The episode adds to an already familiar pattern of friction between Argentina's libertarian president and Spain's socialist government, with no formal diplomatic protest reported from Spanish authorities so far.
