Milei equates socialism with fascism at Madrid summit and greets Sánchez coldly

Milei's speech to the plenary

Argentine President Javier Milei spent much of his address to the plenary session of the XXX Ibero-American Summit in Madrid on 5 November 2026 attacking socialism. He told the leaders present that socialism is fascist in politics and fascism is socialist in economics, a formula he credited to the Spanish writer Salvador de Madariaga. Milei argued that both doctrines concentrate control over individual decisions in a minority, and he listed nationalising companies, regulating the economy, controlling the media and spreading propaganda as shared traits. He opened the speech with condolences for the 69 victims of the Toledo rail accident, two of them Argentines. Milei also welcomed the wave of right-wing governments in Chile, Colombia and Peru, which he said were driving a democratic rebellion against paternalism.

“Both doctrines concentrate in the hands of a minority control over individual decisions and make economic dependence an instrument of political domination.”

A cold greeting with Pedro Sánchez

Milei and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez exchanged a brief greeting shortly after 9am on 5 November, in the Gallery of the Royal Collections, with King Felipe VI between them. According to La Vanguardia, it was expected to be the only moment the two leaders shared during the summit. The encounter came two weeks after Milei called Sánchez an 'impresentable dictador' at a breakfast briefing on 21 October. Relations have been strained for years, and in May 2024 Spain recalled its ambassador from Buenos Aires after Milei attacked Sánchez and his wife, Begoña Gómez, at a Vox event in Madrid. Milei did not name Sánchez in his speech, which was delivered after several other heads of government had spoken.

Missed ceremonies and a meeting with Abascal

Milei landed in Madrid in the afternoon of 4 November after flying from Buenos Aires, but he did not attend the summit's opening at the Teatro Real or the dinner the King and Queen hosted at the Royal Palace that evening. Diplomatic sources cited by El País said Milei's office had asked for a private audience with Felipe VI, and the foreign ministry did not process the request because it considered a meeting with the monarch before Sánchez inappropriate. La Vanguardia reported that the flight had lasted fifteen hours. Later that night Milei met Abascal, a meeting scheduled for 10:30pm according to La Vanguardia, and the Argentine presidential office posted a photograph of the two on X. Abascal shared the post and wrote about the encounter.

“Tonight I met my friend and ally Javier Milei, president of the Argentine Republic, whom I thanked for his presence at the Ibero-American Summit.”

Abascal had not met Milei during the Argentine's visit on 21 October, an absence that Vox denied signalled any distancing. The 4 November meeting followed an Abascal rally in Cuenca that afternoon, according to El País. The timeline below sets out the sequence of events from the afternoon of 4 November to the plenary speech on 5 November.

The Spanish election backdrop

Spain holds its general election on 29 November, and Milei has previously urged Spaniards to remove the Socialists from power. On earlier trips he called Sánchez 'dictador', 'corrupto' and 'ladrón'. El Mundo reported that Argentine government sources said Milei was campaigning more than Abascal, Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso combined. The summit also drew Chile's president José Antonio Kast, while Brazil's Lula da Silva and Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum were absent, El Mundo reported. Milei's Madrid visit on 4 and 5 November was his eighth trip to Spain, and he had already met Ayuso and Vox's secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, on an earlier visit in October.