Argentina's intelligence agency has received more than 40,000 applications in a single day for its first ever public recruitment drive for spies.

The State Intelligence Secretariat, known as SIDE, launched the nationwide campaign to expand its workforce, opening a public competition for intelligence agents for the first time. The flood of applications arrived within 24 hours of the drive opening, according to the UPI news agency.

Successful applicants will train at the National Intelligence School before joining the agency. Candidates must be Argentine citizens with a high-school diploma, and will face general knowledge tests, physical and psychological evaluations, and security checks before they are accepted.

The recruitment drive is part of President Javier Milei's overhaul of Argentina's intelligence services. A presidential decree issued in October rewrote the rules for the intelligence school, opening entry to the public and tying promotion to merit-based assessments.

Spending cuts — except for spies

The drive comes as Milei pursues deep cuts to public spending, with nearly 80,000 public-sector jobs eliminated in three years. Intelligence is a conspicuous exception: the budget for the services has risen sharply, reaching nearly 176 billion pesos by 2026.

The campaign has also stirred controversy beyond Argentina's borders. An official recruitment image was read in neighbouring Chile as placing the capital, Santiago, under surveillance, prompting complaints there, according to Argentine media reports.

Supporters of the drive say opening recruitment to the public will professionalise an agency long associated with secrecy and political use. Critics question why an intelligence service is expanding and advertising so openly while the government cuts jobs elsewhere.

The scale of the response suggests no shortage of interest: 40,000 people applied for jobs that, until now, were never advertised at all.