Mexico requests apology from Spain, Madrid rejects it

The Spanish government has “firmly” rejected the content of a letter from the Mexican government addressed to the King of Spain Felipe VI, asking the monarch to apologize for wrongdoings and abuse during its conquest.

The executive of Pedro Sánchez also stated that it “deeply” regrets that the letter, sent on March 1 by Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, made it into the public eye, expressing that what happened 500 years ago cannot be judged “from contemporary considerations.”

The statement released by the government of Spain further added that the people of Mexico and Spain are “siblings” and they’ve “always” been able to see their “shared past without anger” but instead with a “constructive” perspective, as “free peoples with a common heritage and an extraordinary projection.”

Sánchez’s executive took the opportunity to reiterate its “disposition” to work together with its Mexican counterpart and to “intensify” the relationship of “friendship and cooperation” between the two countries.

In the letter, published by various media outlets, López Obrador urges Felipe VI to recognize the violations committed by Spain during the conquest of Mexico and to apologize for them. The Mexican president argues that publicly asking for forgiveness is the only way to fully reconcile what happened.