MADRID, Jan 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday that X owner and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk "openly attacks our institutions" and "stirs up hatred".

Musk, who is set for a role in US President-elect Trump's administration, has provoked fury across Europe with a string of attacks on the continent's leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

During a speech for the start of official commemorations on the 50th anniversary of dictator Francisco Franco's death, Sanchez accused Musk of heading an "international reactionary" movement that "openly attacks our institutions, stirs up hatred and openly calls for the support of the heirs of Nazism in Germany's upcoming elections."

"All this is a problem, a challenge, a challenge that should challenge all of us who believe in democracy," the Socialist premier added at the event at Madrid's Reina Sofia art museum , the home to Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" painting, one of the most famous anti-Franco works.

Musk has offered strong support to the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of snap elections in the country on February 23, and will host a discussion on X with the party's leader Alice Weidel on Thursday.

The billionaire has also called for Starmer to be removed, and urged the release from jail of Tommy Robinson, one of Britain's best known far-right agitators.