Milei's Madrid summit visit mixes ideological confrontation with opposition meetings

Javier Milei's trip to the Ibero-American Summit followed several days of combative speeches at home. On October 30, Argentina's president attacked politicians for prioritising election victories during an appearance at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, according to El Cronista.

On October 31, he inaugurated an evangelical church in Neuquén and defended fiscal balance while criticising traditional politics, El Cronista reported. The domestic message was one of sticking to his programme rather than softening it.

The confrontation with Spain was already explicit before his departure. Perfil.com reported on November 2 that Pedro Sánchez had declared that Spain was governed from Spain, not Buenos Aires. On November 3, La Nacion reported that Milei's government did not expect him to lower the tone of his criticism during the visit.

Milei arrived in Spain on November 4 and requested a meeting with King Felipe VI, according to La Nacion. The gathering had substantial absences: Infobae reported that only 10 of the community's 22 leaders would participate, with Lula, Sheinbaum and Delcy Rodríguez among those not attending.

That evening, Milei met Vox leader Santiago Abascal. El Cronista reported that he missed both the summit's opening ceremony and the gala dinner hosted by the royals. The meeting put his relationship with a Spanish opposition party alongside his official summit agenda.

Milei and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez exchanged a brief, cold greeting. Reports differ on the date: Euronews placed it on Wednesday, November 4, while El Cronista described their face-to-face encounter as taking place on Thursday, November 5. The supplied coverage does not establish a substantive bilateral discussion.

In his November 5 plenary speech, Milei compared socialism with fascism but avoided a personal attack on Sánchez, according to EL PAIS. Sánchez thanked him for attending while distancing himself from the speech, saying insults were not part of his understanding of politics, La Nacion reported.

Later on November 5, Milei met Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid, to close his agenda in the city. It was their second meeting in a little over two weeks, according to Infobae.

The visit ended without a reported reconciliation between Milei and Sánchez. Its most visible political moments were the chilly greeting, Milei's ideological speech and his meetings with Abascal and Díaz Ayuso. Perfil.com described the trip's aftermath through the contrast between his distance from Spain's official hosts and his contacts with government opponents.

Back in Argentina, Milei faced another appeal for a different political tone. On November 8, Pope León XIV called for prudent use of power and an economy serving people, El Cronista reported. Later that evening, responding to the Pope's call for dialogue, Milei said Argentine debates were not intellectually honest, according to La Nacion.