Mexico’s Sheinbaum, Spanish king use World Cup to mend diplomatic rift

MEXICO CITY: Against a backdrop of World Cup good vibes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Spanish King Felipe VI on Thursday eased diplomatic tensions following Mexico’s demand for an apology over the colonial-era conquest.

Diplomacy between the two countries chilled in 2019 when Sheinbaum’s political mentor, then-president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, wrote a letter to the Spanish crown requesting the recognition of “crimes” committed in the 16th century.

Felipe VI never responded, and the Spanish foreign minister defended the history shared by both countries, rejecting the idea of an apology.

The move was the opening salvo to years of diplomatic tensions.

On Thursday, the king visited Sheinbaum in Mexico City while en route to Guadalajara, where Spain will play against Uruguay in the group phase of the World Cup.

The king and the president were photographed shaking hands warmly, and chatted about football and expressed solidarity with Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes killed at least 235 people.

Writing on X after the meeting, Sheinbaum said: “We discussed the importance of Indigenous peoples throughout history and the ties between Mexico and Spain. We agreed to strengthen bilateral relations for the benefit of our nations”.

Her government announced on Thursday that Mexico and Spain will organise exhibitions and cultural activities that highlight “Spanish exile in Mexico and Mexico’s Indigenous cultures”.

The Spanish Royal House said after the visit that it “comes in the context of intensification of relations between the two countries”.

‘Mistaken’ strategy 

Back in 2024, Sheinbaum did not invite the king to her inauguration.

Spain then declined to send a representative to the ceremony.

However, both parties have taken positive steps over the past year to organise Felipe’s official trip and “reinforce the closeness and affinity that tie both people together,” according to the Spanish Royal House.

Behind the warming relations lay the soft power of sports and culture.

Last March, while visiting an exhibition in Madrid about Indigenous women in Mexico, the king publicly admitted that there was “a lot of abuse” during the colonial conquest.

It soon emerged that Sheinbaum had invited him to attend the World Cup that Mexico is co-hosting with the US and Canada.

He accepted, in what was the first step to “heal wounds,” the Mexican political commentator Pablo Majluf told AFP.

The analyst criticised the “mistaken” strategy of former president Lopez Obrador and the desire to show that “what they wanted was achieved, which was getting the king to recognise the posture of Mexico”.

Nonetheless, “the two countries are profoundly tied culturally, historically, and economically, meaning the closeness is positive,” he said.

In early June, dozens of Spanish and Mexican businessmen joined Spanish economy minister Carlos Cuerpo for a meeting in Mexico City, where they sought to discuss doubling bilateral commerce by 2030.

Allies against Trump

Traveling alongside Felipe VI is foreign affairs minister Jose Manuel Albares and education minister Milagros Tolon.

The public handshake between Sheinbaum and Felipe was seen as sealing the reconciliation, which started when Albares recognised at the same exhibition in Madrid the “pain and injustice” inflicted upon “the originary people” of the Americas.

Spain had previously granted numerous awards to Mexican personalities and institutions – interpreted as subtle winks towards a potential reconciliation.

The accolades included the granting of the Cervantes Prize to the writer Gonzalo Celorio and the Princess of Asturias Award for Concord to Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology.

In April, Sheinbaum traveled to Barcelona at the invitation of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to participate in a summit of leftist leaders to discuss the aggressive policies of US President Donald Trump.

It was her first visit to Europe as president, and “an error” in the opinion of the analyst Majluf, because it put her in the category of Trump’s enemies alongside Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.