Javier Milei’s Madrid visit gave the PSOE fresh material against a possible PP-Vox government. Sánchez answered Milei’s attacks with figures on informal work and minimum wages as Isabel Díaz Ayuso greeted him with an embrace.
Sánchez used Milei’s visit to contrast two labour figures: 11 million workers in Argentina employed off the books and 22.6 million Social Security affiliates in Spain. He said Argentina had reached a record level of unregistered work. The PSOE folded those figures into its case against the Argentine president’s economic policy.
The PSOE had been preparing to make political use of the visit, which came during Spain’s pre-election campaign. On 21 October 2026, Milei spoke in Madrid at the Nueva Economía Fórum, weeks before Spain’s parliamentary elections. Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida of the PP acknowledged that Milei’s trip was a political gift for Sánchez. The PP therefore kept a low profile. Ayuso broke with that approach, greeting Milei with an enthusiastic embrace shortly after he had insulted Sánchez. She met him privately for almost two hours at the Canal de Isabel II complex.
The political contrast was sharp. Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox and Milei’s closest Spanish ally, did not meet him in person. That was a departure from earlier visits, when Vox had presented Milei as a leading guest at its events. Abascal said he was campaigning outside Madrid, although the trip had been known about for some time. Ayuso invited Milei to the Ibero-American Summit planned for Madrid in November, and Milei invited her to visit Argentina.
Abascal later spoke to Milei by video call while the Argentine was at the Fundación Disenso, an organisation associated with Vox and its political circle. Their exchange showed their close political alignment as both traded insults about Sánchez. Milei told Abascal there was nothing more fun than “kicking leftist backsides”. He also urged support for Abascal and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, despite meeting neither man in person. Milei praised Ayuso and Abascal as politicians with positive ideas who could bring Spain out of decline.
Milei’s attacks reached beyond Sánchez. At the Nueva Economía Fórum event, he called the prime minister a “disgraceful dictator” and urged that the socialists be driven from power “by kicking them out”, in front of the Senate president and Spanish businesspeople. He also insulted a Cadena SER journalist after she asked whether the PP and Vox were uncomfortable with his visit. The earlier migration-focused attack had already brought his disputes with Sánchez into the Spanish political debate.
Spain’s foreign ministry condemned Milei’s statements on 21 October, calling them external interference and attacks on a democratically elected prime minister. The ministry also criticised rhetoric it said encouraged violence. A visit by a leader of a “brotherly country”, it said, should not be used to foster “a climate of polarisation and violence”.
Sánchez responded by citing Milei’s economic record. He said Argentina’s minimum wage had fallen by 40% under Milei, while Spain’s had risen by 66% under his government. Sánchez presented Milei’s cuts as an example of what Feijóo and Abascal might do if they reached La Moncloa.
The pension issue offered another point of attack. The PSOE and Frente Amplio were using what they described as unclear PP and Vox positions on possible pension reform. Milei’s adjustment, which he has defended, has fallen particularly on Argentine pensioners and public employees. Feijóo avoided a meeting and even a minimal mention of the Argentine, while Milei openly signalled sympathy for both the PP and Vox.
For the PSOE, the visit helped mobilise progressive voters around the prospect of a PP-Vox government. The party put up a large banner at its headquarters welcoming Milei in terms that echoed his derogatory use of the Argentine word for left-wing people. Sánchez also recorded a video describing himself as left-wing and proud of it.
Óscar Puente began highlighting the visit two days before Milei arrived in Madrid. He said the number of Argentinians living in Spain had risen from 250,000 to 500,000 since Sánchez took office, including 100,000 arrivals since Milei became president.
