Argentine President Mauricio Macri wants Spain to resume the role it once played in the South American nation's economy, as its top foreign investor.

Macri is on a four-day state visit to Madrid to Spanish investors to return to his country.  A decade ago, Spain was the number one investor in Argentina; that's been scaled back over the years as Spain's economy stagnated and as Macri's predecessor Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner renationalized the state petroleum company YPF. 

"We want Spain to occupy the role it once did, we want it to take part in a grand infrastructure plan," said Argentinean Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra.  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will likely throw all of his support behind his old friend Macri.  This is not sitting well with all lawmakers, particularly with the upstart Podemos Party.

Lawmaker Anton Gomez-Reino blasted the visit, saying that the Spanish Congress "is not a chamber of commerce in the service" of Prime Minister Rajoy and his ironically-named, conservative Popular Party.  "Congress is not a platform for his friends' businesses."

Another Podemos lawmaker Irene Montero Macri called Mr. Macri "an offshore agent" - this refers to Macri's name appearing prominently in the Panama Papers leak last year as one of the global leaders who allegedly use offshore tax havens to hide their money.  "It's not necessary to do those acts of honoring a president of the type of Macri," said Montero.  She also accused him of being "responsible for human rights violations" and greeted him in Congress while wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "Free Milagro Sala".  Argentina police arrested the indigenous activist last year for allegedly misusing public money meant for the poor - he United Nations and Amnesty International have condemned the arrest as politically motivated.

Yet others were concerned about Macri's apparent approval of the coup that ousted Brazil's former President Dilma Rousseff, which he downplayed as a "political change".