Two things characterize Isabel Díaz Ayuso: the ability she has to take shots at Pedro Sánchez from all possible angles, and her individualistic way of being in politics, even at the cost of running down the president of her own People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The decision to invite the president of the Republic of Argentina, Javier Milei, to Madrid to present him with the Community of Madrid's International Medal, responds to this strategy. Ayuso thus puts herself in this always-controversial position where she can make trouble for the Spanish prime minister, who maintains a diplomatic and dialectical conflict with Milei that is far from over and which prompted the withdrawal of the Spanish ambassador from Buenos Aires after the Argentinian president answered back to the accusation of the transport minister, Óscar Puente, that he took drugs, and in this response labeled Begoña Gómez, the wife of the Spanish president, as corrupt.
It is obvious that Milei's trip causes immense discomfort for the Spanish government, which, on the other hand, has not participated in anything related to the organization of the Argentinian president's visit. A very rare situation in visits by foreign leaders, but one which makes it clear that the confrontation between the Casa Rosada and the Palacio de la Moncloa is still at a very high temperature. This will not be Milei's only event in Madrid, as he will also collect another prize, this one awarded by the Instituto Juan de Mariana, an organization ideologically linked to the extreme right and ultra-liberal currents. The event, called Dinner for Freedom, will be held at the Casino de Madrid and will not be attended by any member of the Spanish government, who are anxious for him to leave as soon as possible for Germany, where he will receive the award on Saturday of the Hayek Society in Hamburg, with a meeting on Sunday in Berlin with the German chancellor, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, and then on to the Czech Republic, where he will meet the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala.
Madrid will therefore be the only place where a European Union government will have a total institutional vacuum. Nothing is known about the option that at some point there may be a meeting with Feijóo, since, officially from the PP, any discomfort with Ayuso is avoided and it is emphasized that she is the one who, due to her position, keeps the expression of Vox in the Community of Madrid reduced to the minimum and, consequently, it is also good that Milei is not exclusively the booty of Santiago Abascal. Be that as it may, Ayuso always finds a way to sneak into any conflict and take advantage of it with an overdose of populism, leaping straight over the top of any barrier because something could affect Spain institutionally. There is no tiny breach that the PP politican does not know how to turn to her advantage.
Ayuso always finds a way to sneak into any conflict and take advantage of it with an overdose of populism, leaping straight over any barrier that could affect Spain institutionally
An example of this is that from the Spanish foreign ministry it has been pointed out that the Community of Madrid government is likely to have broken the foreign action and service law, approved under Mariano Rajoy's absolute majority, because it did not inform them of her meeting with a foreign representative. Curious way of replying to Ayuso, casting her as the protagonist and making it clear that she is not forced into the same corset as is imposed on the other autonomous communities. Someone with little understanding has once again given the president of the Community of Madrid the political prominence she always needs, with permanent confrontation as her emblem. And now it turns out that in Madrid, where in too many areas Pedro Sánchez is the adversary to beat, the fact of not following the protocol of what the Spanish executive commands is a prize and gives status. That's where we are.