Spain recalls ambassador as spat with Argentina’s Milei extends

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares also demanded the Argentinian leader issue a public apology for his comments.

Spain has recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentinian President Javier Milei used an appearance in Madrid to make derogatory comments about the Spanish prime minister’s wife.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Monday demanded that the Argentinian leader issue an apology for his comments. The accusations of corruption against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife Begona Gomez extend a crude and very public spat between the far-right Milei and the left-leaning Spanish government.

“I am going to explain to him the gravity of the situation and I am going to demand again a public apology by Javier Milei,” Albares told Cadena SER radio.

Addressing a rally in Madrid organised by the far-right Vox party and attended by many of its international allies, including Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and France’s Marine Le Pen, on Sunday, Milei referred to a “corrupt woman”. While he did not name Gomez, his meaning was clear.

“The global elites don’t realise how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism… even if you have a corrupt wife, let’s say, it gets dirty, and you take five days to think about it,” Milei said.