An Unprecedented Diplomatic Conflict? The visit of the president of Argentina to Madrid, Spain—to speak at a far-right convention entitled “Viva 24”—has opened a crisis in relations between the two countries. The whole thing began when Milei referred to “damned and cancerous socialism” this Sunday, before adding: “What a bunch of people who are screwed into power. Even when they have a corrupt woman, they get dirty and take five days to think about it.” It is worth remembering that the socialist Pedro Sánchez said at the end of April that he was considering resigning, citing attacks on his family, especially his wife, based on disinformation campaigns. After five days of reflection, he decided to stay in office. “If we allow attacks on innocent people, then it’s not worth it. If we allow the crudest lies to replace evidence-based debate, then it’s not worth it,” the Spanish prime minister said at the time, considering that there was no basis for the attack. In response to the Argentine president’s words at the convention, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stated, also on Sunday, that “Mr. Milei, with his behavior, has brought relations between Spain and Argentina to the most serious moment in our recent history.” “Spain also demands a public apology from Mr. Milei. If these apologies are not produced, we will take the measures that we consider appropriate to defend our sovereignty and our dignity,” he added, without giving further details. The minister considered that Milei’s words “go beyond any kind of political and ideological difference” and “have no precedent in the history of international relations and even less so in the history of relations between two countries and two peoples united by strong ties.” “It breaks with all diplomatic customs and the most basic rules of coexistence between countries.” Albares emphasized that Milei “was received in the capital of Spain in good faith” and treated “with all due respect and deference,” with the “public resources of the Spanish State necessary” for his stay having been made available to the President of Argentina. However, Milei responded with a “frontal attack” on Spanish democracy and institutions, Albares lamented. The Spanish minister said that it was unacceptable for a head of state to “insult Spain and the president of the Government of Spain” during a visit to the country: “It breaks with all diplomatic customs and the most basic rules of coexistence between countries.” It should be noted that the Spanish government withdrew the country’s ambassador to Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso, on Sunday, because of statements by the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, that Madrid considers to be insults to the leader of the executive, Pedro Sánchez. Today, José Manuel Albares summoned Argentina’s ambassador to Madrid, Roberto Bosch, to formally convey the demand for a public apology. “Attacks on family members of political leaders have no place in our culture”: Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, has also condemned Milei’s “attacks” in a post on the social network X. “Attacks on family members of political leaders have no place in our culture: we condemn and reject them, especially when they come from partners,” Borrell wrote. The head of European diplomacy argued that “respect in public debate” is one of the pillars of the European Union, along with “political freedom, prosperity, and social cohesion based on fiscal redistribution.” “Sánchez: ‘Respect is non-negotiable.’ And what did Milei say?”: On Monday, it was Pedro Sánchez’s turn to refer to the ‘case.’ The Spanish prime minister argued that respect between governments of two countries “is non-negotiable” and accused the Argentine president, Javier Milei, of not having risen to the occasion during his visit to Madrid. “Obviously, between governments, affections are free, but respect is non-negotiable,” the government official said at an event in Madrid organized by the newspaper Cinco Días. Sánchez asked for a “public rectification” from Milei for the statements he made on Sunday. “The response of the government of Spain will be in accordance with the dignity that Spanish democracy represents and with the bonds of brotherhood that unite Spain and Argentina, currently presided over by a President who, unfortunately, did not rise to the occasion with his statements,” he added. “I am fully aware that the person who spoke yesterday did not do so in the name of the great Argentine people. But what we saw yesterday in Madrid speaks to the risk that the international far right poses to societies like ours,” Sánchez also considered, calling for “outright condemnation” by all democratic political forces of Milei’s statements on Sunday, but also of other political leaders, such as the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal. In Sánchez’s view, the leader of Vox made an “explicit call for political violence” when he asked on Sunday for the current government of Madrid, democratically elected in elections, to be “kicked out.” Javier Milei has only referred to this controversy, so far, in a brief post on the social network X, this morning, when he returned to Argentina, in which he wrote: “Hello everyone! The lion has returned, surfing a wave of socialist tears... Long live freedom, damn it!” “Shocking,” “meddling,” and “escalation.” The reactions in Spain: The Spanish Popular Party (PP, right) considered Milei’s speech in Madrid on Monday to be “shocking” and “meddling in national politics,” but argued that the government and Sánchez are “exaggerating a great deal.” “Turning Pedro Sánchez’s wife into the reason for a possible rupture in diplomatic relations with Argentina is exaggerating a great deal,” said PP leader Esteban González Pons in an interview on COPE radio. “Pedro Sánchez’s wife is not a matter of state.” González Pons pointed out that Milei cannot go to Madrid on his first trip after taking office as President of Argentina without greeting the King, the Parliament, and the Government of Spain and participating in a partisan event “and meddling in Spanish politics.” “But Pedro Sánchez’s wife is not a matter of state,” added the PP leader, for whom the Argentines who live in Spain, the Spaniards who live in Argentina, and the companies “do not deserve to have their respective situations compromised by Pedro Sánchez’s sense of honor in relation to his wife.” The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also considered that both Sánchez and Milei had entered into a “verbal escalation that leads nowhere.” The largest Spanish employers’ association, CEOE, condemned Milei’s statements, as did companies such as BBVA, Santander, Telefonica, and Iberia. The president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, condemned “out-of-line statements” that are inappropriate for a relationship between “two friendly, brotherly countries.” “It makes no sense to attack our president of the government,” said Garamendi, who stressed the importance of economic relations between the two countries. “But... Argentina demands an apology from Spain to Milei”: The spokesman for the presidency of Argentina, Manuel Adorni, demanded that the government of Spain offer “sincere apologies” to President Javier Milei. “They treated him like a villain, a denier, a ‘substance user,’ an authoritarian, an anti-democrat, and a ‘very bad’ person. I hope that at some point they will reflect and offer sincere apologies,” Adorni said on the social network X (formerly Twitter). Another spokesman for the presidency of Argentina, Javier Lanari, had also accused the Spanish Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, of insulting Milei by describing him as a “drug addict” earlier this month. “He was not the only one: the Spanish Minister of Science [Diana Morant] called Milei a ‘denier’ and said that he ‘attacks democracy.’ But the one who puts relations at risk and should apologize is Milei...” Lanari quipped. However, Argentina today rejected the possibility of a diplomatic problem with Spain because of “a matter between two people,” even if they are the leaders of the governments of the two countries. “Do not insist on the diplomatic problem because there is no diplomatic problem here. Relations between peoples and diplomacy between peoples are far above the differences that may exist between two people, including two presidents,” said the spokesman for the Presidency of Argentina, Manuel Ardoni, at a press conference in Buenos Aires, in response to several questions from journalists. Ardoni stated that Milei has been the target of a “torrent of insults” from Spanish ministers and even from Sánchez, who have already accused the President of Argentina of “using substances,” denialism, “attacking democracy,” having a “government of hate,” and authoritarianism. Despite this, Argentina has never questioned diplomatic relations with Spain, stressed Manuel Ardoni, who considered that it would be “absolutely irrational” for a “diplomatic reaction” on the part of Madrid. It should be recalled that Javier Milei arrived in Madrid on Friday and returned to Argentina on Sunday after participating in the Vox convention. It should be emphasized that the leader of Chega, André Ventura, was one of the guests at the convention. The event was 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, via videoconference, the prime ministers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni (Brothers of Italy), and Hungary, Viktor Orbán (Fidesz). This was the first trip that Javier Milei made to Spain after taking office, but he did not meet with any authorities in the country. The Argentine government explained last week that Milei intends to return to Spain in June and will request official hearings there