Spain and the legacy of colonialism

BarcelonaThe US Congress passed two formal resolutions in 2008 (the House of Representatives) and 2009 (the Senate) apologizing to African Americans for slavery and racial segregation. In 2022, Belgium also apologized in the Congo for colonial abuses. Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom have also made similar gestures. In contrast, in Spain, every step in that direction infuriates the right wing. This is precisely what happened after King Felipe VI said on Monday, at the opening of an exhibition on indigenous women in Mexico, that during colonization there was "much abuse" and "ethical controversies." In response to these words, the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called it "nonsense" to pass judgment on what happened in the 15th century. And Vox spokesperson Pepa Millán asserted that the colonization of America is "the principal evangelizing and civilizing work in universal history" and that the rights of the "subjects" were always respected. Feijóo's words demonstrate a complete lack of empathy for the peoples of the American continent, where the legacy of colonialism is still visible today. And Millán's are simply false and lack the slightest historical rigor. However, both harbor the outdated vision of Spanish national Catholicism and an undisguised Western supremacism, which considers the indigenous peoples of America to have been culturally inferior and in need of being "civilized" by Europeans.

It is no surprise, then, that countries with progressive governments like Mexico are reclaiming their indigenous heritage and demanding that the former colonial power acknowledge the devastation it caused. Recall that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not invite the Spanish monarch to her inauguration precisely because she believes, like her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, that Spain should make an explicit gesture in this regard. And she is absolutely right. In fact, Pedro Sánchez's Spanish government is behind the monarch's words, and a few weeks ago, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that there was much "injustice" during colonization. It is clear that Sánchez wants to mend relations with Sheinbaum, who is currently, like himself, a progressive icon worldwide.

The Mexican president, however, has already stated that Felipe VI's words are not enough. "It's not everything we would have liked, but it's a step," she said. Is a formal apology really so difficult, however? The atrocities of Spanish colonization, like those of the rest of Europe, are sufficiently documented that there should be no doubt about them. Furthermore, the apology should not come through words from the monarch at an event, but rather with a formal declaration approved by Congress, as was done in the United States. This would be an exercise in historical justice that not only Mexico, but many other South American countries, would appreciate.