Milei attacks Spanish left, defends Israel, and alludes to Zapatero’s jewel scandal in Madrid speech

Award and setting

Javier Milei received the Medalla de Honor from Universidad CEU San Pablo in Madrid this Friday, opening the university’s summer courses. The audience of around 300 students, professors, and politicians including mayor José Luis Martínez‑Almeida saw him improvise at the start, announcing he was changing his prepared remarks to talk about what he called the ‘electric chair’ of the presidency.

I have decided to change the speech.

He presented the core of his upcoming book ‘La moral como política de Estado’, divided into three blocks: ethical values, economic efficiency, and political utilitarianism. The visit was his sixth to Spain since taking office in December 2023, again without meetings with the King or Spanish government ministers.

Attacks on the left and defence of Israel

Milei drew applause with a blunt indictment of the political left, claiming that ‘evil’ consistently comes from ‘the reds’ and that terrorists are always aligned with the left because they share a common enemy in free‑market capitalism.

Evil always comes from the reds. Terrorists will always align with the left because they have a common enemy: free‑enterprise capitalism.

He explicitly defended the state of Israel, calling it ‘the bastion of the West’ and blaming the left and terrorist groups for their disdain toward it. The audience remained silent during that passage, contrasting with applause elsewhere in the hour‑long address.

Veiled references to Spanish corruption cases

Without mentioning names, Milei alluded to ‘porous hands’ through which ‘a million and a half in jewellery slips away’, an implicit reference to former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. A safe containing sapphire, emerald, and diamond necklaces valued at more than 1.3 million euros was discovered during a search of Zapatero’s office, leading a judge to open a separate investigation into possible tax crimes and smuggling.

He also made a brief mention of ‘leaks about the woman’, a presumed nod to Begoña Gómez, wife of current prime minister Pedro Sánchez. Gómez has been sent to trial for alleged influence peddling, business corruption, misappropriation, and embezzlement. Milei had previously called her corrupt in May 2024.

Suppose someone does not have porous hands, but a million and a half in jewellery slips away … or those leaks about the woman, I don’t know.

Economic doctrine and deregulation

Much of the speech was a technical defence of anarcho‑capitalism and fiscal austerity. Milei called public deficits ‘deeply immoral’ and described money printing as a form of ‘counterfeiting’ that punishes the poorest. He rejected state‑imposed charity as ‘robbery disguised as altruism’ and argued that redistributing wealth through taxation violates private property rights.

Europe cannot grow because it is crammed with regulations. Forgive me for saying it so bluntly.

He drew on Argentina’s experience, noting that his government removed 16,000 regulations in two years and carried out an adjustment of five percentage points of GDP in one month – a fiscal shock he symbolises with the word ‘motosierra’ (chainsaw).

Political reflections and legacy

Milei shared his personal conversion to anarcho‑capitalism after reading Rothbard and confessed that, before reaching the presidency, he ‘did not want to see a politician even from three centimetres away’. He entered politics in 2020, became a national deputy in 2021, and president in 2023. Now he says the ‘electric chair’ of power is filled with institutional and political constraints that outsiders cannot see. For that reason, he declined to offer concrete advice to Spanish centre‑right parties PP and Vox.

I could not give any recommendation on specific policies to the owners of other electric chairs – it would be reckless and impertinent.

Once his term ends, he plans to leave politics entirely and retreat to the countryside with his dogs, where he will write, read, and give occasional conferences.