The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has invited King Felipe VI to attend the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the country from June 11 to July 19, sources from the Royal House reported on Wednesday. In her letter to the King of Spain, Sheinbaum states that this sporting event “constitutes a propitious moment to evoke the depth and singular character of the bonds between Mexico and Spain, forged by a historical brotherhood and sustained by the shared legacy of the language, culture, and collective memory that is replete with great examples of solidarity, empathy, and a humanistic vision between our peoples.” The Royal House has “with pleasure” accepted this personal invitation for the monarch to visit Mexico within the framework of the “fraternal” relationship of friendship between the two countries, Zarzuela indicated. An invitation prior to the King's comments on the Conquest. Sheinbaum's letter is dated February 3 and was received on February 24 at the Zarzuela Palace. It is, therefore, prior to the statements made last Monday by Felipe VI acknowledging that there was “much abuse” in the Conquest of America, which the Mexican president valued as a “gesture of rapprochement” from the head of state, although she added that “there is still work to be done” in the process of historical recognition. It was during an unofficial visit to the exhibition 'The Woman in Indigenous Mexico' at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid, alongside the Mexican ambassador, Quirino Ordaz Coppel, that Felipe VI said there was “much abuse” in the Conquest of America and that when some facts are studied and known with the criteria and values of today, “obviously they cannot make us feel proud.” However, he stressed, it is necessary to know these facts “in their proper context, without excessive moral presentism” in order to “draw lessons, because there have also been struggles, let's say, moral and ethical controversies regarding how power has been exercised from the first day.” And he recalled how the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabel with her guidelines, and the Laws of the Indies had “a desire for protection that reality later prevented from being fulfilled as intended.” The King of Spain's statements were valued the next day as a gesture of rapprochement by the Mexican president, who also did not rule out attending the Ibero-American Summit of 2026, to be held in Madrid in November, an event to which Mexico has not attended at a presidential level since 2018. Back in January, Sheinbaum had considered the presence of the Kings of Spain in the Mexican pavilion at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur) a “symbol,” which in her view evidenced that “they are with the indigenous peoples.” However, the Mexican ruler insisted on the importance, in her view, of Spain's recognition of the consequences that the Conquest had for the indigenous peoples, a historical period that was “very violent.” Previously, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, had affirmed that throughout the shared history between both nations “there has been pain and injustice” towards Mexico's indigenous peoples and that it is “just to recognize it and regret it.” A request for forgiveness dating back to 2019. Mexico had requested in 2019 that the King of Spain ask for forgiveness for these facts through a letter from then President López Obrador (2018-2024), which was never answered, so Sheinbaum did not invite the monarch to her inauguration in October 2024, while the Spanish government decided not to send any representative in protest. The King's words about the Conquest of America were “one hundred percent” endorsed by the government, while the left saw them as “insufficient,” the conservatives of the PP asked to contextualize them, and the far-right of Vox defended Spain's actions during the Conquest. EFE
