The president of Mexico, López Obrador, mentioned in a recording that the Conquest was carried out with the sword and the cross. This statement went unanswered by King Felipe VI, which led the Spanish government to lament the dissemination of the letter and reject its content. Despite the former Mexican president's efforts to urge Spain to settle a "historical debt," the conflict remained unresolved.
The current president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, inherited the controversy regarding the need for Spain to apologize for the abuses of the Conquest. This has been a determining factor for King Felipe VI not to be invited to the inauguration of this president last year. Sheinbaum has reiterated the importance of Spain recognizing the atrocities committed during the Conquest to strengthen peoples, nations, and governments, and to combat racism.
The topic gained relevance when writer and researcher Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller was criticized for requesting Spanish nationality at the Spanish embassy in Mexico. This action revived tensions between Mexico and Spain following López Obrador's request for an apology from King Felipe VI for the Conquest and the mistreatment of indigenous peoples. Gutiérrez Müller would have initiated this process under the Spanish democratic memory law, approved in 2022.
The request for an apology from Spain to Mexico dates back to the previous six-year term, when López Obrador sent a letter to King Felipe VI asking for forgiveness for the abuses committed during the Conquest 500 years ago. This caused a distancing between the two countries, after the Mexican president accused the Spaniards of violating human rights in a video posted on social media alongside his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller.
