Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has firmly dismissed talk of a diplomatic rupture with Spain, declaring on Saturday that there was "no diplomatic crisis" between the two countries — and that there "never has been" — as she arrived in Barcelona for a summit of progressive world leaders. Her comments came ahead of a closely watched handshake with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the first high-level encounter between the two governments in eight years. Spain's economy minister described Sheinbaum's presence as "a very important and positive sign of rapprochement."
The meeting marked a visible step toward normalising a relationship that had been strained since 2019, when Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, formally demanded that Spain apologise for human rights abuses committed during its 16th-century conquest of Mexico — a campaign in which Spanish forces dismantled the Aztec empire through warfare and disease, killing thousands. When no apology was forthcoming, Sheinbaum took the unusual step of excluding Spain's King Felipe VI from her 2024 inauguration, and Madrid responded by sending no representative at all. The two sides entered a prolonged diplomatic freeze.
Recent months, however, have brought signs of a thaw. In March, King Felipe became the first Spanish monarch to publicly acknowledge abuses during the colonial era, saying there had been "a lot of abuse" and that certain events, viewed through contemporary values, could not be a source of pride. Sheinbaum subsequently invited him to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico is co-hosting with the United States and Canada, describing the tournament as a timely opportunity to deepen ties. Spain's Foreign Minister had also previously acknowledged "pain and injustice" in the two countries' shared history. After Saturday's closed-door bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit, Sheinbaum said both governments would continue working toward recognition of Mexico's indigenous peoples, adding that the invitation to Felipe VI's World Cup visit remained on the table, though she ruled out a meeting with the king for now.
The summit itself, held in Barcelona and titled "In Defence of Democracy," gathered more than a dozen left-leaning world leaders to discuss the rise of illiberalism and threats to the international rules-based order. Sánchez warned that multilateralism was under attack, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticised the UN Security Council's five permanent members as having become "lords of war." Sheinbaum used her address to champion Mexico's long-standing foreign policy principles — non-intervention, peaceful dispute resolution, and respect for sovereignty — and proposed that the next edition of the summit, which began in 2024 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, be held in Mexico in 2027, an offer Sánchez confirmed and welcomed.
The warming of Mexico–Spain relations carries symbolic weight beyond bilateral diplomacy. For Mexico, the question of how the conquest is remembered remains deeply tied to national identity and the recognition of indigenous cultures. For Spain, acknowledging the colonial past without issuing a formal state apology has been a delicate balancing act. That both sides chose to meet publicly and warmly — and to announce future cooperation on cultural exchanges and renewable energy — suggests that pragmatic engagement has, for now, won out over historical grievance.