The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has held this Saturday a meeting with the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, after years of tensions between both countries following the request for an apology to King Felipe VI for the Conquest.
Both leaders have held a brief face-to-face meeting in Barcelona, coinciding with the IV Meeting in defense of democracy, a forum attended by the Mexican leader along with other left-wing leaders from different parts of the world.
The meeting marks the end of a stage of diplomatic confrontation initiated in 2019, when the then-Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded an apology from the Spanish monarch for the excesses committed after the arrival of the Spaniards to the American continent in the 16th century.
This Saturday, upon her arrival at the event, Sheinbaum sent a message of de-escalation by emphasizing that there is no diplomatic crisis with Spain and that “there never has been.” “The important thing is to recognize the strength of the indigenous peoples for our homeland,” she stated at the beginning of the day.
Sheinbaum's presence in Barcelona —her first official visit to Europe since assuming the presidency in 2024— and her meeting with Sánchez come after several gestures from Spain, including the King publicly acknowledging that there were “many abuses” during the period of the Conquest.