Spain recalls ambassador to Argentina as diplomatic row deepens

A diplomatic spat between Spain and Argentina has escalated with cross-continental accusations, insults, and demands for apologies flying.

On Monday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called again for Argentine President Javier Milei to apologize for calling his wife "corrupt" and insulting the Spanish government while in Madrid on Sunday.

"Between governments … respect is inalienable," Sanchez said, adding that the president of Argentina is "not up to the task" of leading an important bilateral relationship between countries who have traditionally been "as close as siblings."

On Tuesday Argentine President Milei called Sanchez a "coward" and accused him of hiding behind his ministers after foreign affairs minister Jose Manuel Albares and government spokesperson Pilar Alegria both called on Milei to apologize for his controversial comments.

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Argentina's Interior Minister Guillermo Francos told Argentine daily La Nacion that Milei will not apologize to Spain "because he doesn't have any reason to."

"Instead, we would be pleased if the Spanish leader apologized for the abuse and mistreatment," he added.

On a visit to Madrid over the weekend Argentina's president did not meet with Sanchez or the King of Spain, but instead went to a far-right summit organized by Spain's far-right party VOX and its leader Santiago Abascal.

There Milei accused Sanchez and Spain's coalition government of bringing "death and poverty" to the country and referred to Sanchez's wife as "that corrupt woman."

Spain-Argentina relations at "most serious state in recent history"

"With his behavior, Milei has brought the relationship between Spain and Argentina to its most serious state in recent history," Albares said in a video statement.

The foreign minister also said that authorities are now carefully analyzing "in detail what type of visit" Milei plans to make to Spain on June 21.

Milei reacted to the removal of the Spanish ambassador from Buenos Aires and Sanchez's comments by characterizing them as "nonsense befitting a fatally arrogant socialist," and recommended "a good psychiatrist" to Sanchez and "a good lawyer" for his wife.

Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo called Milei's comments a "direct attack on Spain's institutions and democracy."

Sanchez's wife Begoñia Gomez is currently awaiting a ruling from a Madrid judge, who is studying allegations of corruption and influence peddling against her and will decide whether the investigation continues.

The Manos Limpias ('Clean Hands') group who brought the allegations to the judge, however, have links to the far right, and have already admitted that their information could potentially be based on fake news.

Sanchez insists that his wife is innocent and that this is part of what he calls the right-wing "mud-slinging machine" that has been trying to attack him and his family since he came to power in 2018.

Recently Sanchez took five days to decide whether or not "it was worth continuing" as PM due to the constant attacks from the right.

On Tuesday Spain's Civil Guard - one of Spain's two national police forces - said it sees no evidence of a crime relating to influence peddling in the case against Begonia Gomez.

The beginning: Spanish minister accuses Milei of using narcotics during presidential campaign

This episode of Spain-Argentina political tensions began weeks ago when Spain's transport minister Oscar Puente insinuated that Milei was taking drugs during Argentina's presidential election campaign.

Milei demanded an apology then, but with none forthcoming, and it looks unlikely that he will apologize to Sanchez now.

The spat is extraordinary in the recent history of Spain-Argentina relations, but on-brand for the controversial, confrontational style of the Argentine president, an anarcho-capitalist who refers to himself as "the lion."

The type of language used by Milei during this row isn't new either. In February he called Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro a "lethal plague," Colombia promptly recalling its ambassador in Buenos Aires.

And during his presidential campaign last year, Milei described Brazilian leader Lula da Silva as a "savage leftie, supporting dictators, violating human rights, autocrats with their hands stained in blood."

Meanwhile Spanish and Argentinian business leaders look on nervously, the two countries enjoy a strong economic relationship with bilateral trade worth around $2 billion a year.

Sanchez has threatened to take "appropriate measures" if the Argentine government refuses to apologize, Albares adding that he would not exclude the rupture of diplomatic ties with Argentina.

With European elections coming up from June 6-9 Milei visited Madrid with a number of other far-right leaders including France's Marine Le Pen, and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni who spoke via videolink.

Spain's center-right party leader Alberto Nuñez Feijoo accuses Pedro Sanchez of electioneering and using the spat with Argentina to rally his base ahead of the elections.

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