Spain's king welcomes Mexico's World Cup invite after 'abuse' comments

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has invited King Felipe VI of Spain to the Fifa World Cup, the Spanish royal palace has said, signalling a thawing of relations between the two nations.

Sheinbaum wrote that the sporting event - being hosted jointly by Mexico with the US and Canada - would provide "a timely opportunity to evoke the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain", the Casa Real said.

News of the 24 February invitation comes after the monarch acknowledged there had been "a lot of abuse" during the Spanish conquest of the territory that would become Mexico.

Spain's colonisation of the Americas has become a thorny issue in recent years.

Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had demanded in 2019 that Spain apologise for human rights violations during its conquest. Spanish conquistadors killed thousands through fighting and disease as they dismantled the Aztec empire.

When this request went unanswered, Sheinbaum took the unusual decision not to invite Felipe to her inauguration in 2024.

"There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud," Felipe said while visiting an exhibition on indigenous Mexican women in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum.

Sheinbaum cautiously welcomed the tacit acknowledgement of Spain's past actions, saying: "One could say that it is not everything we would have wanted but it is a gesture of reconciliation."

It now transpires that, prior to the king's informal comments, Sheinbaum had offered to rekindle the ties between Mexico and Spain that had become frayed by the issue.

These ties were "forged through a historical brotherhood and supported by the shared legacy of language, culture and collective memory", she is said to have told Felipe.

The palace "welcomed" the invitation, but did not say whether Felipe had agreed to attend the football tournament, due to take place between 11 June and 19 July.

However, the monarch is a keen football fan - said to be an avid Atlético de Madrid supporter - who alongside the Prince of Wales attended the Uefa Euro final between Spain and England in 2024.

Authorities in Mexico have launched a crackdown on violent drug cartels ahead of the World Cup, which is expected to bring an influx of tourists.

But the killing of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartel, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes, in an army operation in February sparked a wave of violence across the country from members and sympathisers, raising safety concerns.

Among the host cities is Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and the epicentre of the violence.

Though Spain has not taken the kinds of steps some other countries have to reappraise their colonial past, it has indicated its willingness to recognise past harm.

Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares won plaudits from Sheinbaum last October when he said there had been "pain and injustice" in the countries' shared history.

Felipe's words, posted by the Spanish royal household's official Instagram account, mark the first time that a Spanish monarch has publicly acknowledged abuses during the country's colonial era.