In the speech – which was given on Friday at the opening of an exhibition of Mexican art in Madrid – the Spanish Foreign Minister calls the relationship between Spain and Mexico “a human history, full of light and shadow.”
"There has also been pain and injustice against indigenous peoples, and it is only right to acknowledge and regret it today. It is part of our common history, and we cannot deny or forget it," said José Manuel Albares.
A Spanish apology for the suffering and abuses that indigenous peoples in the Americas endured during the colonial era has long been on the table – and for years the lack of one has created diplomatic tensions between the countries.
As recently as 2019, both the Spanish royal family and the country's Foreign Ministry rejected a Mexican demand for an official apology.
This week, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum again requested an apology, and Friday's admission is the closest thing to an official one that has come from a high-ranking politician in Spain.
The Spanish conquest began with a war against the Aztec Empire in 1519, and tens of millions of indigenous people were murdered or died in battles and disease. After three centuries of colonial rule, the independent state of Mexico was formed in 1821.
