Spain removes ambassador after Argentina’s Milei calls prime minister’s wife ‘corrupt’

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires for consultations on Sunday after Argentina’s president Javier Milei made derogatory comments about the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a far-right rally in Madrid.

Milei called Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez, “corrupt” during a rally in Madrid organized by the far-right Vox party and attended by many of its international allies.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he expected an apology from Milei.

Other ministers also condemned Milei’s speech, in which he described socialism as “cursed and cancerous”. Sanchez leads the Socialist Party of Spain.

“With his behavior, Milei took the relationship between Spain and Argentina to the most serious state in recent history,” Albares said in a video statement.

Milei’s visit broke diplomatic protocol as he refused to meet King Felipe and Sanchez of Spain, preferring to promote his book alongside Vox leader Santiago Abascal at the party rally.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a post on the social messaging app X that “attacks against family members of political leaders have no place in our culture.”

Spain’s main opposition party, the conservative Partido Popular (PP), refused to support Madrid’s position, with party sources saying Sánchez should have provided explanations about the alleged corruption case weeks ago.

“His silence generates internal doubts, but also distrust abroad,” said a PP source, adding that the party’s role was to oppose the Spanish government and not Milei.

A municipal court said in April it was investigating allegations of influence peddling and corporate corruption against Sánchez’s wife, brought in a private complaint by Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, an anti-corruption activist group.

However, the Madrid Public Prosecutor’s Office later said it was appealing for the case to be dropped due to lack of evidence.

Sanchez decided to remain in office after five days of evaluating his future, once the investigation against his wife was announced.

(Reporting by Ana Cantero; editing by Catarina Demony and Giles Elgood)