Overview
- Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said there had been “pain and injustice” toward Mexico’s indigenous peoples during the Conquest at the Oct. 31 opening of the Madrid exhibition “La mitad del mundo. La mujer en el México indígena.”
- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum welcomed the remark as a first step toward reconciliation, saying that asking forgiveness elevates governments and peoples.
- The Community of Madrid’s spokesperson Miguel Ángel García Martín demanded Albares’ resignation, calling him the worst foreign minister Spain has had and urging an immediate retraction.
- National opposition leaders including the People’s Party and Vox condemned the statement, with PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo asserting he does not feel ashamed of Spain’s history and criticizing the government.
- As of Nov. 3, the statement stands while Spanish officials emphasize it was a cultural-diplomatic lament, not a state apology, and the dispute over colonial memory continues.