Milei declares national holiday despite Argentina's defeat

Milei declares national holiday after Argentina's defeat: the paradox of a day off without a victory

Spain won its second star and Spaniards went back to work on Monday with no day off. Argentina lost and its president, Javier Milei, announced a "national holiday" to celebrate "the achievement of the national team." The decision, announced last night, has sparked a flood of criticism in a country going through its worst economic crisis in decades.

The cost of a public holiday in the middle of a recession

Declaring an unexpected holiday has direct consequences for economic activity. In Argentina, with annual inflation above 200% and negative net reserves, every non-working day reduces tax revenue and makes credit more expensive. While Paraguay celebrated a holiday after knocking out Germany (their team actually won), Milei's gesture looks more like political propaganda than sound economic policy. Reactions on social media were swift: words like "stupid" and "ridiculous" accompany the decision.

The irony is twofold: the president who arrived promising a chainsaw and fiscal austerity is giving away a day off just as his team lost. Two days after declaring "days of intermittent fasting," some joke. The contrast with Spain, where the holiday calendar is set and no celebration is planned despite the triumph, exposes the disconnect between the austerity rhetoric and the practice.

And what about Spain?

Meanwhile, in Spain Monday was a normal working day. The national holiday calendar is fixed and no changes are planned. The difference in approach between the two governments could not be more striking: one celebrates a defeat with a day off nobody asked for; the other grants not even a breather after a victory.