Overview
- Felipe VI said there was “much abuse” during Spain’s conquest of the Americas during an unscheduled visit to a Madrid exhibition on Indigenous women in Mexico.
- The remarks were captured in a Royal Household video showing the king speaking with Mexico’s ambassador, Quirino Ordaz, at the National Archaeological Museum.
- Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the statement as a conciliatory step and urged continued dialogue, while noting it stops short of a formal apology.
- Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares had already acknowledged “pain and injustice” toward Indigenous peoples last fall, which Sheinbaum praised as a first step.
- The Royal Household framed the exhibition as a binational effort to strengthen ties, reflecting a cautious thaw after Mexico’s 2019 apology demand and a 2024 protocol rift.