(MENAFN) Spain has publicly recognized the suffering endured by Mexico’s Indigenous communities during the country’s colonial era, with a senior Spanish official admitting past wrongs. While the statement stops short of a formal apology, it represents a rare acknowledgment from Madrid of the impacts of its 16th-century conquest.

Spanish forces, led by Hernán Cortés in 1519, overthrew the Aztec Empire, using superior weaponry and diseases that decimated Indigenous populations. Colonizers seized land and resources while suppressing pre-Columbian cultures, replacing temples with churches and pursuing wealth and power in the New World.

“There was injustice. It is fair to acknowledge it today and fair to regret it, because that is also part of our shared history, and we cannot deny or forget it,” said Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares during the opening of a Madrid exhibition dedicated to Indigenous Mexican art. He highlighted the “pain and injustice towards the Indigenous peoples to whom this showcase is dedicated.”

The display, titled ‘Half of the World. Women in Indigenous Mexico’, was organized at the request of Mexico’s president. Responding to Albares’s statement, she described it as “the first time that a member of the Spanish government has expressed regret over the injustices committed.” She added that such recognition “does not weaken nations but strengthens them.”

“It is not humiliating,” she said. “On the contrary, acknowledging history, recognizing grievances, asking for forgiveness or expressing regret, and reclaiming that past as part of our story empowers governments and peoples.”

Previously, Mexico’s then-president requested a formal apology from Spain and its monarch for abuses during the 1519-1521 conquest and subsequent colonial rule. The request was declined, with Spain urging both nations to regard the period as a “shared history,” a stance that strained diplomatic relations for years.

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