Spain Acknowledges Colonial 'Pain and Injustice' to Mexico's Indigenous Peoples but Stops Short of Apology

Overview

• Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares delivered the statement in Madrid at the opening of the exhibition “Half the World: Women in Indigenous Mexico.”
• Albares said the countries share a history that cannot be denied or forgotten and framed the remarks as part of a path toward justice and reconciliation.
• Mexico organized the exhibition and lent more than 400 works, which are being shown across the Cervantes Institute, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Casa de México, and the National Archaeological Museum.
• The move marks a tonal shift from Spain’s 2019 rejection of a formal apology sought by then‑president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in letters to King Felipe VI and Pope Francis.
• Spain’s conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo criticized the government’s stance, saying he would not be ashamed of Spain’s history.