Mexico–Spain relations

Mexico-Spain relations refers to the bilateral relations between Mexico and Spain. Like many other Latin American nations, despite having achieved independence, Mexico continues to retain a stable relationship with Spain. Both nations are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization of Ibero-American States and the United Nations.

Mexico–Spain relations

Mexico
Spain

History

Spanish conquest
Main article: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his indigenous mistress La Malinche meeting the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II in 1519.

The Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led an expedition to what is now Mexico in 1518, establishing the city of Veracruz on his arrival. Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, fell to Spain in 1521. It was renamed Mexico City, the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.[1] The Viceroyalty had a stratified social hierarchy based on race, with the peninsulares (people born in Spain) on top, who had the most civil rights in New Spain.[2]

Independence
Main article: Mexican War of Independence

The late 18th and early 19th century saw much revolutionary feeling in the countries of Western Europe and their colonies. The feeling built up in Mexico after the occupation of Spain by the French Revolutionary Emperor Napoleon in 1808, and the 1810 Grito de Dolores speech by Mexican Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla against Spanish rule is widely recognized as the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence. In 1811, Hidalgo was executed by the Spanish militia, but his movement fought on until the establishment of the independent constitutional Mexican Empire in 1821, after the Treaty of Córdoba. The Empire was ousted and the first Mexican Republic created in 1823.[2]

Post-independence
Spain fails to reconquer Mexico at the Battle of Tampico in 1829

Spain established diplomatic relations with Mexico on 26 December 1836 (15 years after Mexico had declared its independence).[2] In the beginning, the diplomatic relationship between the two nations was strained due to Mexico having been a former colony of Spain and the latter's unsuccessful endeavors to reconquer its former colony in the ensuing years under General Isidro Barradas.[3]

General Juan Prim commanded the Spanish expeditionary army in Mexico in 1862, when Spain, Great Britain, and France sought forced payment from the liberal government of Benito Juárez for loans. Prim was a sympathizer with the Mexican liberal cause, thus he refused to consent to the ambitious schemes of French emperor Napoleon III, and withdrew Spanish forces following a meeting with Manuel Doblado.[4]

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Mexico had provided arms and refuge to political refugees. Throughout the war, Mexican volunteers joined the Republican side to fight Francisco Franco. In 1939 when Francisco Franco took power in Spain, Mexico severed diplomatic relations between the two nations. After the war, thousands of Spanish refugees sought asylum in Mexico and former Mexican consul in Marseille, France, Gilberto Bosques Saldívar, issued thousands of visas to Spanish refugees and other asylees to seek refuge in Mexico.[5] Though the Republicans had lost the war, this helped improve the relationship between the two countries after the death of Franco. Mexico and Spain re-established diplomatic relations on 28 March 1977.[6]

Since re-establishing diplomatic relations, both nations share close and warm diplomatic relations. On several occasions, both countries had supported each other diplomatically and there have been several high level visits and meetings between both governments including with the Spanish Royal Family. Soon after re-establishing diplomatic relations 1977; Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez paid an official visit to Mexico, the first ever by a Spanish head of government. That same year, in October 1977, Mexican President José López Portillo paid an official visit to Spain.[7] Both countries' relationship continue to be based on deep-rooted cultural similarities, such as through surnames of Spanish origin and a shared linguistic heritage.

In January 2019, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez paid an official visit to Mexico and met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Both leaders commemorated 80 years since the end of the Spanish Civil War and recognized Mexico's openness in receiving thousands of Spanish refugees who fled their homes and found asylum in Mexico and their contribution to their adopted country.[8]

High-level visits
Former Mexican President José López Portillo and his wife with former Spanish King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía in October 1977.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Mexico City; January 2019.

Presidential visits from Mexico to Spain[9][10][11][12][13][14]

Royal and Prime Ministerial visits from Spain to Mexico[7][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]

Agreements

Over the years, both nations have signed numerous bilateral agreements and treaties such as an Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1977); Agreement on the elimination of visas (1977); Agreement on Cultural and Educational Cooperation (1978); Agreement on Nuclear Energy Cooperation for peaceful purposes (1979); Air Transportation Agreement (1979); Agreement on Economic and Commercial Cooperation (1980); Extradition Treaty (1984); Agreement on the Avoidance of Double-Taxation (1984); Tourism Agreement (1996); Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments (1997); Agreement on Cooperation between the Bank of Mexico and Bank of Spain (2014) and an Agreement on Cooperation against Organized Crime (2014).[23]

Transport

There are direct flights between Mexico and Spain through the following airlines: Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Evelop Airlines, Iberia and Wamos Air.

Drug trafficking

In 2012, four suspected members of Mexican drug cartel Sinaloa were arrested in Spain, while allegedly trying to set up a European operation.[24][25]

In 2013, the head of the Spanish Drugs and Organized Crime Unit (known as Udyco) believed that the Mexican drug cartels had set out to “conquer” Spain and not forge an alliance with Colombian drug organizations.[26]

In 2017, Spanish police extradited Juan Manuel Muñoz Luévano, suspected of carrying out operations for Mexican drugs cartel los Zetas in Spain, to the United States.[27]

Trade relations

In 1997, Mexico signed a free trade agreement with the European Union, of which Spain is a member. In 2018, two-way trade between both nations amounted to US$10.8 billion.[28][29] Mexico's exports to Spain include: crude oil, medicine, alcohol, fish and mobile phones; while Spanish exports to Mexico include: vehicles, vehicle parts and wine.[30] Mexico is Spain's biggest trading partner in Latin America and 15th biggest globally[29]

Several prominent Spanish multinational companies operate in Mexico, such as: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Mapfre, Santander Group, Telefónica and Zara; while several multinational Mexican companies operate in Spain, such as: ALFA, Cemex and Grupo Bimbo.

Resident diplomatic missions
  • Embassy of Mexico in Madrid
  • Consulate of Mexico in Barcelona
  • Embassy of Spain in Mexico City

See also

References
  1. "BBC - History - Hernando Cortés". bbc.co.uk.
  2. "The History Channel:The Struggle for Mexican Independence". history.com.
  3. "Mexican Ministry of Education "Derrota de Isidro Barradas el 11 de septiembre de 1829"(in Spanish)". inehrm.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
  4. Brian Hamnett, Juárez, New York: Longmans 1994, pp. 169, 278.
  5. Bloomekatz, Ari B. (1 December 2008). "'Mexican Schindler' honored" – via LA Times.
  6. "History of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Spain (in Spanish)" (PDF). sre.gob.mx.
  7. "México y España veinte años después de la reanudación de relaciones (in Spanish)" (PDF). colmex.mx. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  8. Mexico y España: unidos por la historia, comprometidos con el cambio (in Spanish)
  9. País, Ediciones El (1 October 1977). "Fuerte contenido económico del viaje de López Portillo a España" – via elpais.com.
  10. País, Ediciones El (6 June 1985). "El presidente de México, Miguel de la Madrid, inicia hoy en la capital española una gira europea de negocios" – via elpais.com.
  11. País, Ediciones El (17 July 1992). "Salinas de Gortari abrirá en Madrid la sede de Fondo de Cultura Económica" – via elpais.com.
  12. "Zedillo: Visita Oficial de Trabajo a España (in Spanish)". presidencia.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  13. "Official trips by President Vicente Fox (in Spanish)" (PDF). diputados.gob.mx.
  14. "Official trips by President Felipe Calderón (in Spanish)" (PDF). diputados.gob.mx.
  15. "Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de España - S.M. el Rey Don Juan Carlos - S.M. el Rey Don Juan Carlos". www.casareal.es.
  16. okler.net. "Mmh.org.mx". www.mmh.org.mx. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  17. "Untitled Document". www.elmundo.es.
  18. País, Ediciones El (8 December 1985). "La reina Sofía visita hoy la zona afectada por el terremoto de México" – via elpais.com.
  19. "Visita de Trabajo de Su Majestad la Reina Sofía de España (in Spanish)". presidencia.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 2017-10-29. Retrieved 2015-03-22.
  20. "Confirman visita relámpago de Aznar a México". www.cronica.com.mx.
  21. "Mariano Rajoy destaca la "meritoria lucha" contra la violencia en México". cnn.com.
  22. SS.MM. los Reyes visitan los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (in Spanish)
  23. "Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Mexico (in Spanish)" (PDF). exteriores.gob.es.
  24. "Spain 'foils Mexican drug plot'". 10 August 2012 – via www.bbc.com.
  25. "Mexican drug cartel members arrested in Spain". www.aljazeera.com.
  26. "Mexican drug cartels eye Spain as their new home". newamericamedia.org. February 2013.
  27. País, El (16 January 2017). "Spain to extradite suspected Mexican drug lord to US" – via elpais.com.
  28. "Secretaría de Economía - Información Estadística y Arancelaria". www.economia-snci.gob.mx. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  29. "Comercio España-México, de 11 mil mdd en 2012 (in Spanish)". Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2014-10-25.
  30. "Trade between Mexico and Spain (in Spanish)" (PDF). economia.gob.mx.
  31. "Inicio". embamex.sre.gob.mx.
  32. "Inicio". consulmex.sre.gob.mx.
  33. "Páginas - Embajada de España en México". www.exteriores.gob.es.
  34. "Páginas - Consulado de España en Guadalajara". www.exteriores.gob.es.
  35. "Páginas - Consulado de España en Monterrey". www.exteriores.gob.es.
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