As Ibero-American Summit gets underway in Madrid, foreign ministers cite ‘excellent’ Spain-Mexico relations

Mexico-Spain relations are in “excellent” shape, Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco said Wednesday after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart in Madrid.

In a social media post, Velasco said that he and Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares spoke with “our usual closeness and trust” about the “excellent” state of relations between Mexico and Spain, a leading source of foreign investment in Mexico.

“We highlighted the good rapport between President [Claudia] Sheinbaum and Prime Minister [Pedro] Sánchez, which drives a constructive, results-oriented agenda,” he wrote.

“Mexico and Spain will continue to strengthen this fraternal friendship and the dialogue that unites us,” Velasco said.

His meeting with Albares took place on the first day of the Ibero-American Summit, a gathering of leaders and officials from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries. Velasco is representing Sheinbaum at the event.

After meeting with the Mexican foreign minister, Albares also described Mexico-Spain relations in positive terms.

“Spain and Mexico have strengthened our political, economic and cultural relations over the past year year for the benefit of our sister nations,” he wrote on social media.

There is no doubt that Mexico-Spain relations have improved during Sheinbaum’s presidency after they deteriorated considerably during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term in office.

In 2019, López Obrador requested an apology from Spain for human rights violations during the Conquest of Mexico, while in 2022 he advocated a “pause” in bilateral relations while asserting that Mexico had been “looted” for years due to “economic-political promiscuity in the leadership of the governments of Mexico and Spain.”

AMLO’s 2019 request for an apology was “vigorously” rejected by the Spanish government, but in March of this year, King Felipe VI of Spain acknowledged that during the Spanish conquest and colonization of the Americas, “there were significant abuses” and “moral and ethical controversies.” As Mexico News Daily reported at the time, his remarks constituted an unprecedented statement on the matter for a king of Spain.

In April, Sheinbaum met with Prime Minister Sánchez at the “In Defense of Democracy” summit in Barcelona.

Sheinbaum had also called for an apology for abuses committed by Spain during the Conquest and the fall of Tenochtitlán, but in Barcelona, she acknowledged that there had been “a rapprochement from both the Spanish … [prime minister] and the king himself.”

The Ibero-American Summit

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) noted that Sheinbaum had designated Velasco to lead the Mexican delegation at the 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid on Nov. 4 and 5.

“The Mexican delegation’s presence will be key to continuing to advance cooperation in areas of interest to Mexico, such as the environment and climate change, human mobility, disaster risk reduction, education, gender equality, and science and technology,” the SRE said.

“At the meeting, the host country will report on its results over the past two years in charge of the Pro Tempore Secretariat of the Summit and will hand the presidency over to Honduras for the 2026-2028 period,” the ministry said.

“The first Summit was held in Mexico, in Guadalajara, in 1991. Since then, it has been an important forum for dialogue and cooperation between the two regions,” the SRE said, referring to Latin America and Europe.