Milei, from open bar in Madrid

MadridJavier Milei has returned to Spain, specifically to Madrid. He has done so on a lightning visit and an open bar that coincides with the November 29th electoral pre-campaign. The Argentine president landed on Tuesday evening and only had an agenda this Wednesday. This Thursday first thing in the morning he is leaving again. In any case, he only needed a 24-hour day to do what he always does when he visits the Spanish capital: throw poisoned darts at Pedro Sánchez. "Unpresentable dictator", "thief" and "delinquent", Milei threw at him. Some "insults and slanders" that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has "energetically" condemned. Milei also took the opportunity to attack socialist governments around the world: "They must be kicked out", he said. And he made an ode to the wildest capitalism and ultraliberal policies: "Chainsaw to public spending". And to finish, he took a photo with his "friend", the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP).

This time the Madrid leader has been the only relevant face of Spanish politics with whom Milei has met. With Pedro Sánchez no meeting was foreseen, nor with Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who had a pre-campaign event scheduled in Seville. There hasn't even been a handshake with Santiago Abascal, unlike on other occasions, although they did have a video call, as Milei showed on X. "I welcome [Milei], but my priority now is the Spanish people," said Abascal when asked why this time he did not find a gap in his agenda to meet with the Argentine president – although other members of Vox did, with whom he met at the Fundación Disenso, his think tank.

The arrival of the President of Argentina in the middle of the electoral pre-campaign has forced the far-right and the right to perform agenda balancing acts with the Latin American leader, whom they have presented on more than one occasion as an economic guru. In fact, the PP and Vox have constantly boasted about their relationship with Milei. The Argentine president, however, arrives at a time when his measures to achieve the zero-deficit goal in Argentina and reduce inflation have triggered an increase in social inequality, a drop in consumption, and high levels of poverty that have led the economy to slow down. This Wednesday, he made no mention of any of this.

On the other hand, Milei's visit has been taken advantage of by those whom the Argentine president attacks. "Proud to be left-wing," read a giant banner unfurled this morning on the facade of the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid. The socialists have not hesitated to use the visit to claim themselves as defenders of the welfare state. "Let [the Spanish government] say whatever they want. I love it!", said Milei. He did not like it as much when asked if his visit had made the far-right and the right uncomfortable: "[That question] is typical of intellectually short people and miserable politicians, as is your case," he told a journalist from SER. To all this, Sánchez replied on X late in the afternoon with a song with an Argentine stamp: Fanático, by singer Lali Espósito, who has explained in countless interviews that it refers to him. The leader of the PSOE insisted on it in the evening at a pre-campaign event in Burgos, from where he accused Feijóo and Abascal of having tried to hide that they will copy Milei's model of "cuts" if they reach the Moncloa.

A balm at the Real Casino

The day has begun as a balm for the Argentine president. From the Real Casino de Madrid, a few meters from the Puerta del Sol, where the encampment against the housing crisis continues, Milei spoke for little more than an hour before personalities from the Spanish political and economic world, but also international ones –among those attending was the United States ambassador to Spain, Benjamin Leon–. Every unfiltered sentence, starting with the insults to Sánchez, was applauded by a good part of the attendees. Some even laughed. Few chose to get up and leave. Perhaps that is why the moderator of the informative breakfast congratulated him on his speech: "Congratulations". Among those listening attentively were Jaime de Marichalar –who, despite wearing sunglasses, a trench coat, and a hat, did not go unnoticed–, Esperanza Aguirre, Father Ángel –founder of the NGO Mensajeros de la Paz–, and Ramón Tamames. Milei did not only speak about the economic model. He also spoke about immigration, which he accused of carrying out an "invasion" and of "destroying the culture of the West" –the Argentine community in Spain is one of the most numerous foreign populations–. He also said, falsely, that because of them, women cannot walk down the street.

On the other hand, they did not receive him in the same way at the Rey Juan Carlos University campus. “Out, fascists, from the university”, could be read on one of the banners of a group of hundreds of students who were protesting against his visit. There, Milei met with Professor Jesús Huerta de Soto, his intellectual mentor, and spoke before the students of the university master's degree in Austrian School economics.