Argentine President Javier Milei declared that, thanks to the “courage” of US President Donald Trump, socialism “is falling apart”, in his closing speech at the 2026 Madrid Economic Forum in the Spanish capital.
Milei made the statement shortly after calling Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez “the shameful figure in charge” and accusing him, along with other socialist leaders, of “all the problems and enormous regulatory obstacles” that are impeding “growth in Europe.”
This was not the first time that Milei referred to the Spanish leader in these terms. In previous years, at the same forum, the Argentine head of government described Sánchez as a “thug” and called his wife “corrupt”.
In this Saturday’s speech, the Argentine president encouraged the audience not to be fooled by socialist policies. He also stated that “when we talk about what is right”, this is associated with “our values” and declared: “Whether they like it or not, the values of the West are Judeo-Christian”.
Milei also praised the political and economic system he established in Argentina, stating that “communist utopia doesn’t work”, before illustrating that liberals, instead of “giving people fish and enslaving them”, “teach them how to fish so that, at some point, they can have a fish farm”.
“If there are no entrepreneurs, there will be poverty”, he concluded, addressing the Spanish people, because, for him, “this idea of socialism in which one person produces and another appropriates, inherently leads to misery”.
Milei also received the first commemorative award in honor of the Ukrainian economist Ludwig von Mises and announced that he will publish a new book entitled “Morality as State Policy”.
Before the forum, Milei had met with the leader of Vox, the right-wing politician Santiago Abascal, at the hotel where he was staying in Madrid, where he was wearing a YPF work overalls.
“President Javier Milei met with Spanish deputy and president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, in Madrid,” his office said in a press release.
“It is always a pleasure to meet with my good friend and ally Milei, an international symbol of freedom who led Argentina back to the path of prosperity and to the league of great nations”, wrote Abascal, also in a press release.
Milei’s fifth trip to Spain began last Friday, when he disembarked in the Spanish capital, and once again did not include any meetings with representatives of the Spanish government, according to the agenda released by the Argentine Presidency.
