Argentine politician Javier Milei sparked an "unprecedented" diplomatic crisis between Buenos Aires and Madrid on Sunday after he claimed that the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was "corrupt" during a speech at a far-right convention in the Spanish capital. 

The Spanish government has reacted by demanding that the politician retract the "very serious" accusations and publicly apologize to Sánchez and his wife, Begoña Gómez.

"They do not know what kind of society socialism can produce, what kind of people it creates, and what kind of abuses it can generate," Milei, a libertarian, said at the Viva24 Europe convention in Madrid's Vistalegre pavilion, according to the Spanish press.

"Even if he has a corrupt wife, he takes five days to think about it," he added, in reference to the investigation into Begoña Gómez that was launched following a complaint for alleged influence peddling. 

After the investigation was made public on Wednesday, Pedro Sánchez decided to cancel his schedule to "reflect" and postponed clarifications until the following Monday.

At a press conference, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares condemned the "very serious" accusations, considering them to be "unprecedented in the history of international relations."

"Javier Milei was received in good faith in the Spanish capital to participate in a far-right political event and was treated with all due respect. He was provided with public resources from the Spanish state and he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy," the minister said at a press conference at the Moncloa Palace. 

EN DIRECTO

Declaración institucional del ministro de @MAECgob, José Manuel Albares, desde La Moncloa. https://t.co/OSlUr7GPM6

— La Moncloa (@desdelamoncloa) May 19, 2024

"Mr. Milei's insults break with all diplomatic customs and with the most basic rules of coexistence between countries," he added.

The minister demanded an apology and issued a warning: "If this apology does not occur, we will take all the measures we deem appropriate to defend our sovereignty and our dignity."

Albares also announced that he had summoned the Spanish ambassador to Argentina, María Jesús Alonso, for a meeting.

It should be noted that Chega leader André Ventura is one of the guests at the convention. The event is also attended by the Spaniard Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, the French Marine Le Pen (National Union), the former Prime Minister of Poland Mateuwsz Morawiecki (Law and Justice, PiS) and, by videoconference, the Prime Ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni (Brothers of Italy), and Hungary, Viktor Orbán (Fidesz).

You can watch Javier Milei's speech in the gallery above.

Read Also: Radical right meets in Madrid with Milei as guest (Portuguese version)