Argentine president Javier Milei landed in Madrid on Tuesday, 20 October, on his seventh trip to Spain since taking office in December 2023. As on earlier visits, he is not due to meet the king, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez or any other member of the central government. The trip is aimed at backing right-wing parties ahead of Spain's general election on 29 November. The Community of Madrid has not confirmed a meeting with its regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, even though the encounter was announced from Argentina. One of Ayuso's closest advisers said the meeting was not on her agenda.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal is not expected to pose with Milei or hold a private meeting, the first time he has skipped that encounter during the Argentine's Spanish visits. Milei headlined Vox's Europa Viva rally on 19 May 2024, which launched the party's campaign for the European elections. On Wednesday, 21 October, Abascal is due in A Coruña for a morning media encounter and in Avilés for an afternoon rally. Milei will visit the Vox-linked Disenso foundation in Madrid, where Ignacio Garriga and foundation director Jorge Martín Frías are to receive him. The chainsaw image has also become awkward for Vox after economic spokesman José María Figaredo called Spain's pension system a zombie and broken.
Manuela Bergerot, spokesperson for Más Madrid in the regional Assembly, rejected the visit at a rally in Callao Square called by Argentina Soberana under the slogan 'Milei no es bienvenido'. She described Milei as the inspiration for Ayuso, Abascal and Feijóo, and for those who want to scrap public pensions.
“Milei's chainsaw is the wet dream of Abascal and Feijóo.”
She also praised students at the Rey Juan Carlos University who had announced a protest against the event, and applauded a strike across all stages of education against the Madrid government. Asked about meetings between Milei and the right, she said their shared interest was what she called a reactionary international, and dismissed them as sectarian.
Trade unionist Afra Blanco questioned why Ayuso and Abascal were avoiding the visit.
“I just don't understand why Díaz Ayuso or Abascal are hiding now.”
She linked the question to Milei's labour and pension policies in Argentina, and suggested the right no longer wanted to be photographed with him.
On Monday, 19 October, Milei mocked people who say families struggle to reach the end of the month. He asked how people who run out of money on the 20th could survive ten days without eating or drinking. Opposition figures criticised his tone as cynical and lacking empathy, and reminded him of rising household debt in Argentina. Before flying to Madrid, he had also spoken at an energy and oil industry exhibition in Neuquén, where he argued that a pleasant-sounding phrase does not make it reasonable. Indec, Argentina's statistics institute, reported that poverty rose by 4.1 points in the first half of 2026 compared with 2025, reaching 32.3% of the population.
On Wednesday, 21 October, Milei's agenda starts at 9:45 with a conference at the Real Casino Gran Círculo de Madrid, presented by economist Daniel Lacalle. He then heads to the Vicálvaro campus of the Rey Juan Carlos University, where he is to meet professor Jesús Huerta de Soto and take part in the presentation of a master's degree in economics of the Austrian School. One report gives a meeting with Ayuso at 17:00 at a location still to be determined, while others say the Community of Madrid had not confirmed it. Student organisations have called protests against his presence at the university. The timeline below sets out the key dates, from the arrival to the 29 November vote.
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Argentine president Javier Milei landed in Madrid on Tuesday, 20 October, as Vox leader Santiago Abascal declined a joint appearance with him. The Community of Madrid had not confirmed a meeting with Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and protests were called against the visit.
AI text based on reports by LaSexta, EL PAÍS, europa press and other publishers. Published .