Spain has announced the permanent withdrawal of its ambassador from Argentina after Argentine President Javier Milei refused to apologize for controversial remarks criticizing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his wife. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares stated, "I announce that we will withdraw our ambassador from Buenos Aires," after she was summoned for consultation on Sunday, adding, "The ambassador will permanently remain in Madrid. Argentina will no longer have a Spanish ambassador."
The Argentine leader angered the Spanish government during a conference in Madrid organized by the far-right Vox party in Spain. Milei criticized socialism and attacked Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, without naming her. In his speech, he stated that "the elites of the world do not realize the destruction that applying socialist ideas can cause," adding that they "do not understand the type of society and country that can result from it, nor the types of people who cling to power and the level of abuses that can arise from that."
Within hours of Milei's attack, Spain summoned its ambassador and Albares criticized the "insult" from the visiting president. However, Argentine Interior Minister Guillermo Francos stated, "There is no apology to offer... On the contrary, I believe that the Spanish government should apologize for what was said about Milei."
