Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded an apology from Spain for human rights violations committed during that era.
In 2024, the current president did not invite King Felipe to her inauguration, saying neither he nor the Spanish government had responded to the request. However, comments last October by the Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, acknowledging there had been “pain and injustice” in the two countries’ shared history, appeared to improve relations.
The king went further in March, when he told the Mexican ambassador in Spain that there had been “a lot of abuse” during the conquest, which “cannot make us feel proud.” Those comments drew a positive response from the Mexican government, although they angered some on Spain’s right, which tends to be more defensive about the country’s colonial history.
Backing the moderate
The People’s Party’s national leadership, which has frequently been wrong-footed by Ayuso’s outbursts, has steered clear of her Mexican dispute.
Instead, on the campaign trail in Andalusia, party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo praised Moreno’s measured image, telling supporters in Málaga that “it’s more important than ever…to have moderate and centrist politics.”
Polls show the Socialists are in a distant second place ahead of Sunday’s vote. The death of two civil guards in a high-speed pursuit of drug traffickers in waters off Huelva appeared to hurt the party.
The Socialist candidate, María Jesús Montero, described the incident as a “workplace accident” in language that played badly.