The King and his remarks on abuse in Spanish America: an exaggerated controversy?

Over the past two days, there has been a heated controversy over some words spoken this Monday by King Felipe VI.

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During a visit to an exhibition at the Archaeological Museum, the King made some informal remarks in which he spoke about the positive and negative aspects of Spain's presence in America, stating: "There have also been struggles, let's say, moral and ethical controversies regarding how power has been exercised from the very beginning. That is to say, the Catholic Monarchs, with their directives, the Laws of the Indies, and the legislative process, had a desire for protection that reality then meant was not fulfilled as intended, and there was a great deal of abuse. And also, as I said before, to consider the fact that That knowledge will help us appreciate each other more."

The King's words can be heard in full here (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

Based on this, on social media some people have accused the King of promoting the anti-Spanish Black Legend and have even labeled him a "traitor". The reaction is frankly exaggerated, as any reasonably sensible person can conclude after listening to the King's words in that video. In fact, those abuses—which did exist—were already acknowledged by King Juan Carlos I in 1990 during an official trip to Mexico:

"From the very moment of the discovery of the New World, the Spanish Crown sought to defend the dignity of the indigenous people. Thus, King Charles V himself forcefully reminded Hernán Cortés that «Our Lord God created the Indians free and not subject to servitude.» Of course, the prudence and equanimity of the monarchs were often regrettably disregarded by ambitious landowners and venal officials who, by force, imposed their injustice."

Is this promoting a Black Legend? Of course not. The Black Legend consists of distorting the facts to demonize Spain's role in America. Talking about what was done well and what was done poorly, based on historical facts, is not promoting a Black Legend: it is respecting history. Many Spanish historians have quite naturally acknowledged the positive and negative aspects of the conquest and evangelization of America. The Black Legend is not combated with a rosy legend, but with the truth.

On this same blog, I responded to the promoters of the Black Legend on October 12, 2020 with these words: "It is true that abuses were committed during the Conquest of America, but there was nothing similar to a Spanish genocide against the Amerindians, according to the characteristics indicated in the Rome Statute. Not even remotely."

In that same article, I refuted the absurd claims of many leftists who accuse Spain of "genocide" for spreading diseases, and I did so by pointing out that unintentionally spreading a disease is not even a minor offense. At that time, the mechanisms of disease transmission were not known with nearly the precision with which we know them today. In that article I also wrote:

"Certainly, contagious diseases brought by the Spanish to the New Continent caused a demographic disaster, causing 95% of the deaths in that period. This was due, to a great extent, to the fact that the indigenous immune system was more defenseless against certain diseases (such as smallpox, influenza, measles, bubonic plague, diphtheria, typhus...). This situation was due, to a great extent, to the geographic isolation in which pre-Columbian America lived. Let us remember, for example, that the black plague that ravaged Europe in the fourteenth century originated in Asia and reached the West through the maritime trade routes between the two continents."

I also pointed out then that the first major vaccination campaign in history began in Spain, the Balmis Expedition, which traveled through the Americas, the Philippines, and China. It was a campaign that saved millions of lives, as I recalled here in March 2020.

Now imagine that a media outlet decided to take my words out of context and publish this headline: "Blogger Elentir accuses Spain of causing 'a demographic disaster' in America", without mentioning the context, ignoring the rest of my comments on the matter, and portraying me as a defender of the Black Legend. I know I would spend days, weeks, or months receiving insults, probably very similar to those the King has been receiving in recent hours.

If this is going to become a habit, perhaps the wisest thing is to impose an absolute national silence on any subject, because it will be difficult to make any statement or write anything minimally elaborate - let alone a book - without someone coming along to manipulate your words so that the masses then demand you be crucified.

To conclude, in December I said here that Spain needs to know its history beyond the black legends and the pink legends. I commented then that the black legend is increasingly losing credibility, largely due to the rigorous work carried out by many Spanish authors and authors from other countries to debunk that bundle of lies, propaganda, and clichés. And I added the following:

"Of course, the need to debunk this Black Legend doesn't imply denying that Spaniards have made mistakes, as if Spain were a nation of virtuous beings where everything bad we find should be attributed to foreign influences. The Black Legend is just as false as the Pink Legend. Both fall into the same trap: approaching Spanish history with ideological filters that distort historical facts to fit a particular narrative, often with certain political undertones."

I think it's worth reiterating this, given the absurd controversy sparked by the King's words. Of course, I don't intend to deny anyone the right to criticize what the Head of State says or does (I have done so myself), but all criticism must always be based on facts. Attacking someone for words taken out of context seems to me a mistake. And incidentally, it's a mistake that benefits many who have spent years promoting the anti-Spanish narrative, activists who also direct much of their hatred against the Crown simply because the King symbolizes the unity and permanence of Spain, as stated in Article 56 of the Constitution. Let's think about this for a moment, please.

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Photo: Casa Real.