King Felipe of Spain appears to have helped thaw frosty relations with Mexico by acknowledging abuses carried out by his country during its conquest. But in doing so he has reopened a fierce debate over the colonisation of the New World.
The arrival of Spaniards in America from the late 15th Century spread Christianity and the Spanish language across the continent, while also causing the death of many thousands of indigenous people through military action and disease.
During a visit to an exhibition dedicated to indigenous women in Mexico at Madrid's National Archaeological Museum, King Felipe said there had been 'a lot of abuse' during the conquest of the territory that would become Mexico.
'There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud,' he added.
The king made his informal observations in the presence of the Mexican ambassador to Spain, Quirino Ordaz. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico welcomed the comments as a major step forward on an issue that has caused diplomatic friction between the two countries in recent years.
'One could say that it is not everything we would have wanted but it is a gesture of reconciliation by the king in terms of what we were talking about: an acknowledgement of excesses, exterminations that happened during the Spaniards' arrival,' she said.
The year 2021 marked the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlán, the site of modern-day Mexico City and the capital of the Aztec empire, at the hands of Hernán Cortés and his small army.
King Felipe's words mark the first time that a Spanish monarch has publicly acknowledged abuses during the country's colonial era, included in a video posted on social media by the Royal Household.
While many welcomed this acknowledgment, the political right in Spain remained hesitant. The leader of the conservative People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, cautioned against considering historical events out of context. The far-right Vox party praised the conquest as 'the greatest work of evangelisation and civilisation in universal history.'
As discussions continue, it remains to be seen how these remarks will impact Spain and Mexico's diplomatic relationship moving forward.
