Spanish King Acknowledges Historical Abuses During Mexico's Conquest

Wed Mar 18 2026 13:18:23 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

King Felipe VI of Spain has sparked a renewed discussion on the legacy of colonialism by acknowledging the abuses committed during the conquest of Mexico. His remarks have been met with a mix of support and criticism, particularly regarding Spain's historical actions and their impact on indigenous populations.

In a significant departure from previous Spanish royal rhetoric, King Felipe VI publicly acknowledged the abuses committed during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, referring to them as 'a lot of abuse'. This statement has been welcomed by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as a gesture toward reconciliation. However, it has also reopened a fierce debate in Spain about how to confront the historical consequences of colonialism, leading to divided political opinions and reactions from both the left and right.

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 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 on Monday.

The king made his informal observations while commenting on the exhibition 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 and 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.

They and other Spanish conquistadors went on to slaughter many thousands more indigenous people across the continent.

In 2019, the then-president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded an apology from Spain for human rights violations during the conquest and colonisation of his country.

However, last October, Sheinbaum praised comments by Spain's foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, who said there had been pain and injustice in the two countries' shared history.

King Felipe's words mark the first time that a Spanish monarch has publicly acknowledged abuses during the country's colonial era. They were included in a video posted on social media by the Royal Household.

Sheinbaum said that the comments should now lead to dialogue on the matter, although it is unclear how that might proceed. Elma Saiz, a minister in the Socialist-led Spanish government said that administration endorses the words of [King] Felipe VI 100%.

However, the political right, which in the past has strongly rejected claims that Spain's conquest and colonisation of the New World should be reappraised, was less willing to support the king's words. The leader of the conservative People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, warned against looking at historical events out of context and said that bringing under scrutiny in the 21st Century things that happened in the 15th Century is crazy.

Elma Saiz said the opposition leader's stance placed him on the radical right and that he was denying history. The far-right Vox party described the conquest as the greatest work of evangelisation and civilisation in universal history.

Vox MEP Hermann Tertsch directly addressed the king, saying he was astonished that the monarch coincided with the position of those who only seek to damage and discredit Spanish history.