The Spanish Right-Wing politicians rejected Biden’s call for apology over a colonial past and seemed to take an unapologetic stance when narrating their historical events. For some people, the colonial era is a reminder of a time in hell and how their forefathers were tormented by colonizers who took over. Native Americans and Africans are among people who felt the full sting of colonialism and are against nations that idolize famous figures who aided this tragic era. Closely linked with slavery, colonialism is described as the most terrible act which befalls certain countries.
Spanish Right-Wing Politicians expressed displeasure at the US president, who suggested that the Spanish apologize over a colonial post. Christopher Columbus’s four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean put Spain on a high pedestal in making significant strides in colonizing other people. This historical figure is an “explorer” whose footsteps were found in many world countries. According to recorded historical facts, this late explorer discovered the New World and “opened the way for the Americas’ widespread European exploration and colonization.”
Pablo Casado, the leader of the Conservative Popular Party, disagreed with Biden’s suggestion and “described Spain’s colonial expansion to America as the most important event in history after the Roman empire.” This conversation became the center of attention on eve 12 October holiday, which marks Christopher Columbus’s 1492 arrival in the New World. Those who despise Columbus’s voyages blamed him for opening a platform for colonialism to be carried out easily and acted as a catalyst in pushing colonial rule across the globe. President Biden sent a message to mark the US Columbus Day holiday and noted that Columbus’s journeying activities enacted “a wave of devastation” for Native Americans. Biden also made a call to Americans not to “bury these shameful episodes of our past.”
The American leader attributed the oppression of indigenous people to Columbus and showed intense concern for their well-being. He went a step further in appreciating indigenous and proposed to make the 11th of October a holiday named Indigenous People’s Day. A statement from the White House noted that “Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures — safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations”.
Indigenous people suffered more because of Columbus’s activities. For instance, people from Latin America were wiped by smallpox and other diseases, which the Europeans brought, and the colonizers took control. The colonizers’ triumph was due to their superior weaponry hardware that worked effectively in mass killing. Europeans’ advanced technology was used to chase them away from their houses as Europeans seized their land for those who were inhabitants of North America.
Spain is despised for failing to acknowledge human rights abuses in the colonial era, and most of these inhumane acts were performed by conquistadors and settlers. Many people in Latin American outlined the slaughter of their kin and kith.
But Casado has unique views on this matter and argues how the discovery of the New World opened the door for our modern world. On his Twitter handle, he posted that “Does the kingdom of Spain have to apologize because five centuries ago it discovered the New World, respected those who were there, created universities, created prosperity, built entire cities? I don’t think so”.
Santiago Abascal, the leader of Spain’s far-right Vox party, shared the same sentiments and described Biden as “the lamentable president of the United States.” He further argued how president Biden had “attacked the great masterpiece of the Spanish conquest: the evangelization.”
“How proud we can feel about what our ancestors did,” he said, and expressed how the Spanish colonies are “the empire of human rights.”
Citizens from former imperial powers “feel uncomfortable with an idealized representation of a past which always had more bloodshed and fire than peace and goodwill.” “Spain is no exception.” This is proof that an issue like this is sensitive, and it demonstrates how Spain’s Right-Wing politicians may have to adapt their position.
