Overview
- Foreign minister José Manuel Albares said at the Madrid inauguration that Mexico and Spain share a history with “light and shadow,” recognizing “pain and injustice” toward Indigenous peoples and urging that it not be denied or forgotten.
- President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the statement as the first time a Spanish government authority has lamented the injustice, calling it a meaningful first step and saying forgiveness ennobles governments and peoples.
- Reports emphasize the gesture is not a formal state apology, with Sheinbaum referencing Mexico’s 2019 request under Andrés Manuel López Obrador for an official acknowledgment to which Mexico still awaits a formal response.
- The remarks came at the opening of “La mitad del mundo. La mujer en el México indígena,” a Mexico-organized exhibition highlighting Indigenous women, assembled with Secretaría de Cultura, INAH and INPI, in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes.
- The show brings together roughly 435 pieces across four Madrid venues—Casa de México en España, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Museo Arqueológico Nacional and the Instituto Cervantes—and is scheduled to run through March 2026.