Milei intervenes in Spain election, calls PM Sánchez ‘a dictator’

President Javier Milei made an unprecedented intervention into Spain’s upcoming election on Wednesday, branding the nation’s prime minister a “dictator” and calling on voters to eject him from office.

In a typically outspoken speech at an economic forum in Madrid, Milei fired off fresh attacks at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a leader who he has repeatedly criticised in the past.

Describing Sánchez as an “unpresentable dictator,” he urged his supporters in Europe to “kick the socialists out” in Spain’s November 29 general election.

The main opposition conservative Partido Popular (PP) is predicted to win the most seats in the vote but without obtaining a majority, potentially giving far-right Vox the decisive say in forming the next government.

Milei opened his speech by praising “Spanish civilisation,” but quickly pivoted to criticism of Sánchez’s government and Spain’s left-wing politicians.

“Spain has welcomed hundreds of thousands of Argentines who fled misery and a lack of prospects, the result of the sinister socialism of the 21st century, whose Argentine branch is Kirchnerism, which you regularly suffer under the unpresentable dictator Pedro Sánchez,” the Argentine leader said.

His attack did not end there. After describing Spain as the “cradle of liberalism,” he told the audience: “It is a debt of honour you owe to your own blood: to kick the socialists out.”

Milei then seized on mass protests in France to urge voters to back right-wing forces and stop “the ideas of the enemies of the West.”

He accused left-wing parties across Europe of causing the continent’s “brutal stagnation,” declaring: “Wherever the state gets its hands in, it spoils things.”

“My fight is against those who destroy liberty,” he said. “You have one of them here, and I am going to confront him because he is going to ruin your lives.”

Spanish government spokeswoman Elma Saiz reacted by requesting "respect" for Sánchez, who has consistently defended the probity of his government and the source of his party's funding.

Argentina’s head of state then said that he would not meet Sánchez for fear his pockets would be robbed, describing the prime minister as a “criminal thief.”

Milei’s Madrid visit, which lasts just 36 hours, is the latest of several unofficial trips to Spain which he has used to attack its leftist government and rally with the right-wing opposition.

He will visit figures from Vox as well as Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the PP leader of the Madrid region, who is an acerbic critic of Sánchez, while in Spain.

"I am clearly friends with [Vox leader] Santiago Abascal and with Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and I believe they have sound, positive ideas for pulling Spain out of its decline," Milei said.

In 2024, a diplomatic crisis erupted after Milei called Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez "corrupt," prompting Madrid to recall its ambassador to Argentina for months.

In his speech, Milei accused the Spanish Socialist Party leader of encouraging an “invasion” of immigrants.

More than 70,000 migrants entered Spain's north African territory of Ceuta from Morocco in July, making Sánchez the target of attacks by global right-wing figures, including US President Donald Trump.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sánchez posted a short video on X in which he expressed pride in being " zurdo ", a Spanish term often used pejoratively by Milei and the far right to refer to left-wing activists.

He also posted a clip of the song ‘Fanático,’ by Argentine singer Lali, a critic of Milei who has been one of the biggest targets of online abuse by the President.

The President also addressed Argentina’s domestic situation at the Nueva Economía Forum 2026.

Addressing the recent rise in the country’s risk premium rating, which closed at 672 basis points on Tuesday, Milei attributed the increase to international instability and the country’s record of sovereign defaults.

“When we won the election, [the] country risk [rating] stood at 3,000 basis points. With a great deal of effort, we brought it down to 400. But, well, we live in a turbulent world,” he said.

“Argentina has a very poor credit history because it has been the greatest serial defaulter in modern history. On top of that, we have a scourge worse than orcs facing us,” he added, referring to Kirchnerism.

He predicted that once international conditions stabilised and Argentines reaffirmed their support for the government’s economic direction in next year’s election, the country would experience “a period of growth unlike anything seen in its history.”

Milei said Argentina would then achieve investment-grade status, enabling it to attract substantially more investment.

“For your sake and ours, we invite you to look south. Look to us to invest, look to us to produce,” he told the audience, urging investors to pay attention to Argentina’s political direction and economic prospects.

Milei predicted an “unforgettable” future for Argentina if he won re-election.

“If you re-elect me, the coming years will be unforgettable,” he said.