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Madrid expects ‘respect’ from Milei on next Spain trip

Spain has urged Argentine President Javier Milei to show "respect" if he visits Madrid as planned later this week after he sparked a political crisis during his last trip.

Published: 19 June 2024 09:12 CEST
Madrid expects 'respect' from Milei on next Spain trip
Argentina's President Javier Milei gestures during the commemoration of the 214th anniversary of the May Revolution that led to the independence from Spain, at Plaza San Martin in Cordoba, Argentina, on May 25, 2024. (Photo by Diego LIMA / AFP)

Spain withdrew its ambassador to Argentina last month after Milei refused to apologise for telling a Madrid conference organised by Spanish far-right party Vox in May that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has “a corrupt wife”.

Sánchez in April considered resigning after prosecutors opened a preliminary corruption investigation against his wife, Begoña Gómez, into allegations she used her position to peddle influence.

Sánchez has dismissed the allegations as part of a smear campaign.

“My wife is an honest professional, serious and responsible, and my government is clean,” Sánchez told parliament last month.

Milei is scheduled to travel to Madrid to receive on Friday an award from the Juan de Mariana Institute for his “exemplary defence of the ideas of freedom”.

If this trip takes place, Spain expects Milei “to show respect at all times for the institutions of this country and for the Spanish people”, government spokeswoman Pilar Alegria told a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting.

A self-declared “anarcho-capitalist”, Milei won elections last November with a vow to cut Argentina’s vast public debt to zero. He has instituted an austerity programme that has seen the government slash public subsidies.

Argentina’s outspoken president has also sparred with the leaders of Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil.

READ ALSO: Argentina’s Milei calls Spain’s PM ‘laughing stock of Europe’

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POLITICS

Spain’s Catalonia sets clock ticking for possible fresh polls

The speaker of Catalonia's parliament said Wednesday he will give the Spanish region's assembly two months to form a new government or else he will push for new elections.

Published: 26 June 2024 15:33 CEST
Spain's Catalonia sets clock ticking for possible fresh polls

No party secured an absolute majority in Catalonia’s 135-seat parliament in a May 12th regional vote in the wealthy northeastern region, which saw separatist parties lose their governing majority in the body they had dominated for the past decade.

The local branch of Spain’s ruling Socialists, led by Salvador Illa, won the biggest share of the vote giving it 42 seats, while hardline separatist party JxCat – headed by exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont – finished second with 35 seats.

The regional Catalan parliament had until June 25th to vote on a new government but neither Illa nor Puigdemont decided to present themselves to an investiture vote in the assembly as they had not secured enough backing from other parties to be successful and preferred to keep negotiating.

So the speaker of the Catalan parliament, Josep Rull of JxCat, on Wednesday set a two-month deadline for parties to agree on a new head of the regional government, otherwise a fresh election will be held – most likely in mid-October.

“After consultations with the parties, none have proposed a candidate to go through the presidential investiture debate by the first deadline,” he said.

“However, two of these parliamentary groups have expressed their willingness to explore ways to build an agreement to make the investiture possible over the next two months.”

To win the support of an absolute majority of 68 lawmakers of the Catalan parliament, Illa will need to secure the backing of the more moderate separatist party ERC which won 20 seats in the May election.

The ERC helps prop up Socialist Prime Pedro Sánchez’s minority government in the national parliament but its demands for regional financing so far seem too steep for Illa’s party.

Puigdemont is also courting the ERC but even with their support, as well of that of two other smaller separatist parties – the far-left CUP and the far-right Alianca Catalana – he will still fall short of the required 68 seats to enable him to pass an investiture vote.

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