MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei arrives in Madrid mid-campaign and will meet Ayuso but not Sánchez

Milei has clashed sharply with Sánchez since 2024 and has made his alliances with conservative leaders a hallmark of his foreign policy

Argentine President Javier Milei flew to Madrid on Monday night on his third visit of the year to Spain and his seventh since taking office, in the middle of the campaign for the snap general election on November 29. His agenda includes a meeting with the president of the Madrid regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the People’s Party, but, as on previous visits, no meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

On Wednesday, Milei will give a lecture on economics at the Nueva Economía Forum and meet economist Jesús Huerta de Soto, a leading figure of the Austrian School, before speaking at the launch of a master’s programme on that school of thought at Rey Juan Carlos University. In the afternoon he will meet the Disenso Foundation, linked to the Vox party, and be received by Ayuso. Unlike on other visits, no meeting is planned with Vox leader Santiago Abascal. The trip, which ends on Thursday, includes a small delegation headed by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier.

Milei has clashed sharply with Sánchez since 2024 and has made his alliances with conservative leaders a hallmark of his foreign policy. Sánchez called the early election amid a social crisis over access to housing.

The Argentine government presents these trips as part of its strategy to attract investment in sectors such as energy and mining. The opposition questions their cost and usefulness. Spain is the president’s second most frequent destination, after the United States, which he visited last week for the twentieth time.