King Felipe VI of Spain arrived in Guadalajara last week for a historic visit that combined diplomacy and sport. His June 25-26 sojourn marked the first time a Spanish monarch has visited Jalisco in an official capacity.
The 58-year-old monarch held meetings with Jalisco government officials and business leaders and watched Spain’s World Cup match against Uruguay.
Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus met with the king at the Hotel Barceló for a private meeting, to which representatives from the business sector were also invited. According to a state government press release, the delegations discussed investment projects with Spanish companies in water infrastructure, connectivity and energy sectors, as well as expanding Spanish hotel investments in the state.
“I explained to the king our educational model focused on science, innovation and technology,” Lemus said after the meeting. “I also spoke with him about culture, and he was truly surprised by what happened with (singer) Alejandro Fernández’s presentation a day earlier.”
The king was reportedly impressed by the massive public concert featuring Fernández that drew more than a quarter of a million people to the Minerva Glorieta, without any major incidents.
The governor said he also shared with the monarch the story of Fray Antonio Alcalde, the Spanish-born benefactor of Guadalajara, whose legacy includes founding the city’s first public hospital (Hospital Civil Antigua) and university (Universidad de Guadalajara).
The visit also allowed Felipe to meet with members of the Spanish community in Guadalajara, recognizing their role in maintaining economic and cultural ties between both nations.
The following evening, the king watched from the stands as Spain defeated Uruguay 1-0 in front of 45,000 spectators at the Estadio Akron. The victory advanced Spain out of the group stage to the round of 32.
Following the match, Felipe went down to the locker room to personally congratulate the players and coaching staff.
Meeting with Sheinbaum
A day before arriving in Jalisco, Felipe held a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City. The encounter, which marked the monarch’s first visit to Mexico since 2018, helped seal the normalization of diplomatic relations after seven years of tension. These surfaced in 2019 when then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent a letter to the Spanish crown requesting an apology for abuses committed during the conquest.
The meeting was described as “cordial,” with Sheinbaum noting that the pair discussed the importance of Indigenous peoples throughout history. She acknowledged that while the King’s recent public recognition of “abuses” during the conquest was not the apology López Obrador had originally requested, it was “a step forward.”