Spain recalls ambassador to Argentina over president’s ‘insult’

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Spain’s foreign minister announced Sunday that he was indefinitely recalling his country’s ambassador to Argentina over an insult by its president, Javier Milei.

Jose Manuel Albares demanded a full public apology from Milei.

Speaking at a meeting in Madrid of global far-right leaders hosted by Spain’s Vox party, Milei called Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, “a corrupt woman.”

The comment received a standing ovation in an arena packed with around 11,000 people. Other speakers at the event included French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.

The Argentine leader also attacked socialism as “cancerous,” alluded to Sanchez as “dirty” and suggested that people wouldn’t believe the levels of abuse of power in the government.

In an urgent declaration to the press later in the day, Albares called on Milei to apologize, adding: “If there is no public apology, we will take all measures that we view appropriate to defend our sovereignty and our dignity.”

He said Milei has taken bilateral relations between Spain and Argentina to their “lowest point in recent history.”

“We welcomed Javier Milei in Madrid in good faith to participate in a far-right political act. We treated him with respect and offered him public resources of the Spanish state during his stay in our country. But despite this hospitality, he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy, our institutions and Spain,” he added.

Albares said his declaration in response to Milei was backed by a “large majority” of Spain’s political parties, but not the far-right Vox and conservative Popular Party.

Albares added that the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told him that “an attack of this caliber on a member state is an attack towards all of the EU.”

"Attacks against family members of political leaders have no place in our culture; we condemn and reject them, especially when coming from partners," Borrell later posted on X.

The Spanish foreign minister said Milei’s comments were “unprecedented in the history of international relations and even more in the history of two countries” and called on him to follow decorum and avoid commenting on Spain’s “internal affairs.”

Earlier this month, Sanchez threatened to resign after a court opened an initial inquiry into his wife over corruption claims.

He denounced the situation as harassment from the far-right group that brought the claim to court and right-wing media, which made the accusations.

After taking a five-day break to decide, Sanchez announced that he would stay on as the country’s leader.