My Spanish is not good, but I thought that idiota meant idiot
what they wrote was pendeja which I thought meant asshole
I think you are right. Pendeja means asshole
It’s a British news outlet.
They’ve no clue.
Culo or ojete is closer to asshole.
Pendejo/pendeja is usually idiot or moron.
But Mexicans, especially pocho ones, don’t know what the hell vulgar spanish words really mean.
https://en.bab.la/dictionary/spanish-english/pendeja
It depends on whether the word is used as a noun or adjective.
apples and oranges, y’know? ha ha