Mexico invites Spain’s king to World Cup in sign of thaw

2026.03.18 23:50 In a letter to Spain’s King Felipe (right), Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum (left) said the World Cup was “a timely opportunity to evoke the depth and unique character of the ties” between their two countries. Photos: AFP Spain’s King Felipe VI has been invited to the 2026 World Cup in Mexico by President Claudia Sheinbaum, the royal palace said on Wednesday, signalling a thaw in relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations have been strained since 2019, when the Mexican government demanded that the Spanish crown apologise for the abuses committed during the conquest and subsequent colonisation of the Americas in the 16th century. Sheinbaum excluded the king from her inauguration in October 2024 partly because Spain had not responded to the apology demand. Her invitation came after the king on Monday acknowledged that there had been “a lot of abuse” during the conquest of the Americas. “There are things that later, when we study them and learn about them, you say: ‘Well, by today’s standards and values, they obviously cannot make us feel proud,’” he added during a visit to an exhibition of Indigenous Mexican art in Madrid. Former Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reads a letter from 2019 addressed to Spain’s King Felipe VI in September 2024. Photo: AFP The king made his informal observations as he commented on the exhibition in the presence of the Mexican ambassador to Spain, according to a video posted by the royal palace on social media. In a letter to the king, Sheinbaum said the World Cup is “a timely opportunity to evoke the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain”, the royal palace said in the statement. These ties were “forged through a historical brotherhood and supported by the shared legacy of language, culture, and collective memory”, she added. The royal palace said the king had received Sheinbaum’s invitation to visit Mexico “with pleasure, within the framework of the fraternal frien

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