MADRID (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Maduro in a statement called Rajoy "a racist, colonialist and corrupt garbage." Following Maduro’s remarks, the Spanish Foreign Ministry summoned Venezuelan Ambassador in Madrid Mario Isea over "inadmissible insults."
"The government regrets this attitude… which has become a common practice for the Venezuelan head of state," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, a representative of the ministry has notified Isea of plans to withdraw the Spanish envoy.
"Spain is concerned about the situation in Venezuela, a country with which it has great cultural and historical ties, and where 200,000 Spanish citizens live," the statement added.
Last year, a similar row erupted between the two countries, after the Venezuelan leader accused the Spanish government of a conspiracy to topple him.
