The key facts
- Milei and Sánchez met for the first time at the Madrid summit on November 5
- The greeting was brief and noticeably cold
- The incident occurred two weeks after Milei's harsh statement about Sánchez
A cold encounter in Madrid
On Thursday morning, November 5, Argentine President Javier Milei and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met in person for the first time at the 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. As footage published by Euronewsshows, the greeting between the two leaders was brief and noticeably restrained — neither side hid their mutual distance.
A conflict years in the making
The meeting came just two weeks after Milei called Sánchez an 'unpresentable dictator' — only the latest episode in a prolonged political standoff between the two leaders. Their relations are complicated by ideological differences that have repeatedly escalated into personal attacks. The diplomatic crisis peaked in May 2024, when Spain withdrew its ambassador from Buenos Aires after Milei criticized Sánchez and his wife Begoña Gómez at an event held by the Spanish far-right party Vox. The brief greeting on Thursday was the only public contact between Milei and Sánchez during the summit.
