Spanish monarch visits Museum of Archaeology, admits ‘mistakes of the past’
King Felipe VI of Spain has acknowledged abuses committed during the country’s colonial era, though the Spanish monarchy has never formally apologized to former colonies, Reuters reported.
During a visit to Madrid’s Museum of Archaeology on Monday, the king addressed Spain’s colonial legacy. He discussed the gap between the aims of colonial laws and their outcomes, noting that while the laws «wanted to protect,» in practice, «things didn’t work out as they were originally intended and there was a lot of abuse.»
The remarks referred to Spain’s colonial period between the 16th and 18th centuries, when it ruled one of the largest empires in history. During that time, practices such as forced labor, land seizures and violence against Indigenous people were widespread.
Accompanied by Mexico’s Ambassador to Spain Quirino Ordaz, Felipe VI toured an exhibition about Indigenous women in Mexico and stressed the importance of learning from history.
«When we study certain things under modern-day criteria, with our values, obviously, we can’t feel proud. But we must learn from this, within its context, without too much moralizing. We must learn lessons through objective and rigorous analysis.»
In 2019, then-Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked Spain and Pope Francis to apologize for abuses committed during the Spanish conquest. Spain’s government rejected those requests, saying current leaders are not responsible for actions carried out centuries ago.
Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, later decided not to invite the Spanish king to her inauguration after he declined to apologize. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described the decision as «unacceptable.»
Earlier this year, American historian Brook Newman published «The Crown’s Silence,» which explores the role of the British crown in the slave trade. While King Charles III has expressed «his personal sorrow,» the monarchy has yet to formally apologize for past abuses.
