By Deutsche Welle
Spain, one of Mexico’s main trading partners, has announced that it will not participate in the inauguration ceremony of Claudia Sheinbaum as Mexican president on October 1, considering it “unacceptable” that King Felipe VI was not invited.
“The Spanish Government considers the exclusion of His Majesty the King from the invitation to the inauguration unacceptable,” the European country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “For this reason (…) he has decided not to participate in the inauguration at any level,” it added.
A week ago, Mexican authorities published the list of personalities who will attend the inauguration of the first female president in the country’s history.
The Spanish monarch does not appear on the list, which does include important leaders of the Latin American left, such as the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and other figures such as Jill Biden, the wife of the president of the United States.
The monarch is the one who attends these types of official events.
Spanish government sources stressed that the executive’s decision is in defence of the head of state, in a logical, clear and forceful reaction, recalling that Felipe VI is the one who attends the inaugurations of the Ibero-American presidents and is recognised and loved in that community.
For all these reasons, they insist that the Government has done what it had to do in the face of a decision that is not understood, and if Mexico does not invite the king, as a response, it has agreed that no one will go representing Spain.
Mexico and Spain are united by powerful historical, human and economic ties.
Thousands of Spanish companies operate in Mexico, including BBVA and Santander, the main banks in the Mexican market.
During his term, the outgoing president, leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, twice declared a “pause” in relations with Spain, the former colonial power.
When he came to power, López Obrador, a fellow party member of Sheinbaum, demanded an “apology” from the King of Spain and the Pope for the Conquest and Colonization (1521-1821) of Mexico. Madrid then avoided responding.
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