The XXX Cumbre Iberoamericana opened at Madrid’s Teatro Real on 4 November. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attended, as did Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, alongside delegations from all 22 countries in the Ibero-American community. Ten of the 22 invited heads of state or government were confirmed to attend. Javier Milei missed the opening ceremony and the gala dinner hosted by the king and queen at the Palacio Real, Agencia EFE reported.
Milei arrived in the Spanish capital at about 17:00 and met Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox. His official schedule listed the meeting with Abascal. Neither the Teatro Real ceremony nor the royal dinner appeared on his agenda. The Teatro Real opening programme included speeches scheduled from 19:30 by Sánchez and Andrés Allamand, secretary-general of the Ibero-American General Secretariat. The leaders’ plenary was scheduled for 5 November at the Galería de las Colecciones Reales.
The opening ceremony began with a minute of silence for the 69 people killed in a railway accident in Urda, Toledo, on 28 October. Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum were among the prominent leaders who did not attend. RTVE reported that the final tally of 10 leaders fell short of an earlier expectation of 18 or 20.
EFE described the visit as Milei’s eighth to Spain since he became president of Argentina in December 2023. It came weeks after an earlier trip to Madrid, during which he insulted Pedro Sánchez. After returning to Buenos Aires, Milei again attacked Sánchez and repeated the insults at a public event the following day.
That earlier visit was intended to show support for the PP and Vox ahead of a general election. The PP also featured in RUSSPAIN's separate report on Feijóo's comments on party leadership.
