Tensions escalate: Spain permanently withdraws its ambassador from Buenos Aires, and Milei criticizes the decision.

Madrid has permanently withdrawn its ambassador to Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso, announced Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares this Tuesday, thereby intensifying the controversy over disparaging remarks made by Argentine President Javier Milei in Madrid.

Milei called the Spanish government’s decision “nonsense” and recommended that Pedro Sánchez find “a good lawyer for his wife.”

In a phone interview with the TV channel La Nación+ shortly after the Moncloa executive’s decision was announced, the ultraliberal politician said the measure is “nonsense typical of an arrogant socialist” and added that “socialists are capable of anything.”

“This tarnishes Spain’s international image, showing how arrogant they are to believe they are the state and that no one can say anything to them,” Milei stated, denying that Argentina would take any similar action.

In his first interview after returning from Spain, the leader of La Libertad Avanza called the Spanish Prime Minister “cowardly” and said he felt “attacked” by him, reiterating his refusal to apologize for his comments made last Sunday.

On that day, at an event organized by the Spanish far-right party Vox, Milei labeled Sánchez as “a breed of people clinging to power” and called his wife, Begoña Gómez, “corrupt.”

This Monday and Tuesday, the Argentine President has insisted that he did not explicitly mention them in his remarks and that if they felt targeted, “it’s their problem.”

He also recommended Sánchez find “a good lawyer for his wife,” referring to the lawsuit filed against Gómez in a Madrid court by the far-right organization Manos Limpias, alleging corruption and influence peddling.