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 G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Organization of Ibero-American States.

History

Spanish conquest

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. The Viceroyalty had a stratified social hierarchy based on race, with the peninsulares on top, who had the most civil rights in New Spain.

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.

Post-independence

Spain established diplomatic relations with Mexico on 26 December 1836. 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.
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.
During the Spanish Civil War, 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. 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.
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. 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.

High-level visits

Presidential visits from Mexico to Spain
Royal and Prime Ministerial visits from Spain to Mexico
Over the years, both nations have signed numerous bilateral agreements and treaties such as an Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation ; Agreement on the elimination of visas ; Agreement on Cultural and Educational Cooperation ; Agreement on Nuclear Energy Cooperation for peaceful purposes ; Air Transportation Agreement ; Agreement on Economic and Commercial Cooperation ; Extradition Treaty ; Agreement on the Avoidance of Double-Taxation ; Tourism Agreement ; Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments ; Agreement on Cooperation between the Bank of Mexico and Bank of Spain and an Agreement on Cooperation against Organized Crime.

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

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. 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. Mexico is Spain's biggest trading partner in Latin America and 15th biggest globally
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