MADRID, SEPT 25 – Spain announced yesterday that it will boycott the swearing-in ceremony of Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, because King Felipe VI was not invited.
Madrid described the king’s exclusion from the ceremony on October 1 as unacceptable.
“For this reason, the Spanish government has decided not to participate in the appointment at any stage,” the Spanish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Mexico published a guest list a week ago for the swearing-in ceremony of Sheinbaum, who will become the country’s first female president after the left-wing ruling party’s landslide victory in June elections.
King Felipe VI is not on the list which includes regional leftist leaders as well as the First Lady of the United States (US), Jill Biden.
Although Mexico and Spain have close historical and economic ties, relations between the Latin American country and its former colonizer have been strained since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a Sheinbaum ally, took office in 2018.
Madrid has rejected its demand to apologize for the Spanish conquest of five centuries ago. – AFP
