King Felipe of Spain appears to have helped thaw frosty relations with Mexico by acknowledging abuses carried out by his country during its conquest.
But in doing so he has reopened a fierce debate over the colonisation of the New World.
The arrival of Spaniards in America from the late 15th Century spread Christianity and the Spanish language across the continent, while also causing the death of many thousands of indigenous people through military action and disease.
During a visit to an exhibition dedicated to indigenous women in Mexico in Madrid's National Archaeological Museum, King Felipe said there had been "a lot of abuse" during the conquest of the territory that would become Mexico.
"There are things that, when we study them, with our present-day criteria, our values, obviously cannot make us feel proud," he added on Monday.
