Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares acknowledged the pain and injustice to indigenous peoples during the Conquest at the inauguration of a joint exhibition with Mexico. President Claudia Sheinbaum presented a video of his statements, viewing it as a first step toward reconciliation. This revives the debate started in 2019 by Andrés Manuel López Obrador's request for an apology, which Spain rejected at the time.
The debate over apologies for Mexico's Conquest resurfaced with statements by Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares at the inauguration of the exhibition 'La mujer en el México indígena', organized by the governments of Spain and Mexico at the behest of President Claudia Sheinbaum. In his Tuesday speech, Albares described the shared history as "a very human history and, like everything human, with light and shadows." He added: "And there has also been pain and injustice towards the indigenous peoples who were treated unjustly, and it is right to recognize and lament it," emphasizing that it is "part of our shared history and we cannot deny or forget it."
Sheinbaum, in her Friday press conference, showed a video of these words and called them the first time a Spanish authority has lamented the injustice. "It is important. From my point of view, it is a first step and speaks to the importance of what we have always said: forgiveness ennobles governments and peoples, it is not humiliating, on the contrary," she said. She highlighted that the exhibition is part of the "path of justice and reconciliation that we walk together; one more milestone in our relations and our brotherhood."
Albares also mentioned current ties: over 180,000 Spaniards live in Mexico and more than 40,000 Mexicans in Spain. He thanked former President Lázaro Cárdenas for welcoming Spanish exiles during the Franco dictatorship, noting that "Spain will never forget and we will never stop thanking the Mexican people for their welcome."
This contrasts with 2019, when López Obrador sent a letter to King Felipe VI requesting apologies for abuses against indigenous peoples. Vice President Carmen Calvo responded that the king "does not have to apologize to any country," and it would not happen. Pedro Sánchez rejected the request "with all firmness," arguing that "the past cannot be judged by contemporary criteria." AMLO lamented the lack of response, calling it "arrogant" and lacking "delicacy." The tensions prevented inviting the king to Sheinbaum's inauguration. Spanish opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo stated: "I will not be ashamed of my country's History," criticizing the current government.