Milei calls Sánchez a 'dictador' in Madrid, sparking rebukes across Spain's parties

Insults at a Madrid breakfast

Javier Milei spent fewer than 48 hours in Madrid before leaving Spain on 22 October, according to El País. During a breakfast event on 21 October he called Pedro Sánchez an 'impresentable dictador', 'corrupto' and 'autoritario Pedrito', while LaSexta reported that he also called the president of the Government a 'ladrón'. He insulted several journalists during the visit, and the PSOE answered by urging its supporters to flaunt 'orgullo de zurdos'. Milei was also met with protests at an event for anarcocapitalist economists at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, where students objected to a public university hosting the speaker and shouted 'Fuera fascistas'.

A tense exchange with a reporter

Isma Juárez, a reporter for El Intermedio, went to the Casino de Madrid to cover a breakfast that Milei attended. His first question, about why Milei had not met Vox leader Santiago Abascal, went unanswered. Inside the venue he asked whether poverty could be faked, and on a written card he asked about the protests at the Puerta del Sol. When he finally exchanged words with Milei, the president said that anyone claiming they cannot reach the end of the month should try living ten days without eating or drinking, and then said:

If you want to embrace an emotional slogan, I love your heart, but I cannot respect your brain.

Back in the studio, Wyoming took up the matter and declared that the programme's hashtag of the day, 'Isma, no se toca', set a red line. The reporter said that after watching footage of the exchange with other journalists, he had come out of it relatively well.

Parties divided over the reaction

Vox leader Santiago Abascal criticised Popular Party figures Xavier García Albiol, mayor of Badalona, and Juanma Moreno, president of the Junta de Andalucía, for condemning Milei's insults. Abascal argued that such criticism would make it hard to end the government.

With that, we will hardly bring down this government.

Abascal did not attend a meeting with Milei in person, citing scheduling problems, and instead shared a video of a call he had with the Argentine president. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, was the only PP leader to meet Milei and be photographed with him, although the meeting had little institutional pomp. In Langreo, at a homage to Asturians deported to Nazi concentration camps, the vice-councillor for Citizens' Rights, Beatriz González, warned against the 'deshumanización del adversario' and urged parties to acknowledge historical facts.

Birthday and economic record

Milei turned 56 on 22 October, a day after his visit to Spain. On El Intermedio, Dani Mateo marked the occasion with a comic song, performed live, that described him as someone who insults people and clashes with the president of the government.

Economic policy also featured in the coverage. Milei boasted of his 'motosierra' cuts to public spending and the welfare state, but economist Gonzalo Bernardos said his policies were not working.

He has falsified what he promised.

Bernardos said Milei had called taxes theft yet had raised them considerably, and warned that Argentina's economic indicators could be purely cyclical, with external support keeping the economy from sinking further. He also cautioned against treating Milei as a model for the Spanish right.