BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — With a few choice words and a handshake, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum laid to rest a diplomatic spat between her government and Spain over the Spanish colonial past during her visit to Barcelona on Saturday.
“There is no diplomatic crisis, there never was one,” she said upon arrival at the IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy, a gathering of representatives of 15 countries concerned with the rise of illiberalism.
“The important thing is to recognize the efforts of the indigenous people of our land,” she said, moments before shaking hands with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Sheinbaum’s participation came after Spain’s King Felipe VI ironed out a longstanding diplomatic dispute when in March he publicly acknowledged the conquest of the Americas had led to the “abuse” of native peoples.
The international tussle started in 2019, when Sheinbaum’s predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, demanded that Spain “publicly and officially” recognize the abuses committed during the conquest of Mexico in a letter sent to the Spanish king and Pope Francis.
Spain refused to do so, which soured relations between the two governments.
Relations hit a low point in 2024 when Sheinbaum did not invite Felipe to her inauguration over the palace’s refusal to issue a formal apology, a move that Sánchez called “unacceptable.” Spain subsequently refused to send a representative to Sheinbaum’s inauguration in a breach of tradition.
The unprecedented step toward reconciliation by Felipe was followed by the Mexican government inviting the Spanish monarch to attend a World Cup match this summer.
Sheinbaum and Sánchez later met privately and, according to Sánchez's office, discussed global affairs, the relations between Mexico and the European Union and how to strengthen cultural and economic ties between the two countries.
Sánchez did not publicly mention the now-resolved diplomatic issue at Saturday's events, while thanking Sheinbaum for offering to host the next edition of the pro-democracy summit next year.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, greets Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, talks with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit, in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, greets Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Progressive and traditional democratic leaders gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to discuss how to restore faith in the liberal order threatened by a world drifting toward far-right extremism and torn by conflict.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump and the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, is hosting two overlapping events about democracy and progressive politics at a convention center in Spain’s second city.
The IV Meeting in Defense of Democracy brought together Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, as well as the leaders or high-ranking officials of 10 other countries, including the United Kingdom.
While no leader mentioned Trump in the part of the meeting open to the press, the staunchly unilateral position of the American president that breaks with decades of U.S. foreign policy, including his derision of NATO and the United Nations, hung over the meetings intent on defending the multilateral rules-based order.
“We all see the attacks against the multilateral system, the repeated attempts to undermine international law and the dangerous normalization of the use of force,” Sánchez said.
Trump chose Saturday to lash out on social media again at Sánchez, who has faced Trump’s scorn for not allowing the U.S. to use jointly operated military bases in Spain for operations related to the Iran war and for refusing to raise military spending from 2% to 5% of GDP.
“Has anybody looked at how badly the country of Spain is doing. Their financial numbers, despite contributing almost nothing to NATO and their military defense, are absolutely horrendous. Sad to watch!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Spain, like the U.S. and other developed countries, is in debt, but it has one of the world’s leading economies under Sánchez.
Ramaphosa promoted his plan to push for the United Nations to launch a comprehensive, international study and policy-action plan to battle the growing wealth gap both between and within nations on the model of its efforts to mitigate climate change.
He said South Africa will present a draft resolution to establish the International Panel on Inequality to the U.N. General Assembly in September.
Among concrete proposals, Sheinbaum plugged her idea that governments commit to spending the equivalent of 10% of their military budgets on reforestation projects.
“Each year, instead of planting the seeds of war, we will plant the seeds of life,” she said.
Sheinbaum also said she wants to propose a declaration, without specifying if she referred to the U.N., against a military intervention in Cuba, a move that Trump has said he believe he will “ have the honor ” of carrying out.
Sánchez argued for the importance of regulating social media to stop the spread of hate speech and disinformation.
Later on Saturday, several leaders will stay on to attend the inaugural Global Progressive Mobilization, where some 3,000 left-leaning elected officials and policy analysts will exchange ideas.
The gatherings come a day after Sánchez and Lula held a summit at a former royal palace in Barcelona. They shared their concern for a world that has been shaken by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Israel's offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas' attack, and now, the conflict in Iran that has disrupted oil and natural gas markets.
Lula and Sánchez are among the few progressive leaders who have withstood a shift to the right and remain popular in their countries while defending multilateral agreements, human rights, environmental protections and gender equality — values often challenged by Trump; Lula’s neighbor in Argentina, libertarian President Javier Milei; and Europe’s far right.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center, poses with attendees, at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center, poses for a photo next to Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and his wife wife Rosangela Lula da Silva, at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit, in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, greets Colombia's President Gustavo Petro at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, right, greets Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center left, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, second right, Uruguay's President Yamandu Orsi, left, and Chile's former President Gabriel Boric, right, attend the Meeting in Defence of Democracy summit in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
