Yes, this really happened. As reported by CNN Español and other Spanish-language outlets, the president of Spain’s RTVE, the country’s public television and radio corporation, said in a March 30 speech that the Spaniards were never colonizers and oh yeah, the Aztecs were like the Nazis.
Yes, this really happened.
There’s actual video proof:
AJ+ Español posted a smaller clip of José Antonio Sánchez’ speech for those who just want to cut to the chase:
“España nunca fue colonizadora, fue civilizadora”: una clase de historia 'alternativa' con el presidente de la Televisión Española. #RTVE pic.twitter.com/RP7ZDb3cM3
— AJ+ Español (@ajplusespanol) April 4, 2017
For those who need a translation of the juicy parts, here is some of what Sánchez said. Get ready, because it’s fucking crazy. Let’s get to the first one:
Spain was never a colonizer. It sought to evangelize and civilize.
Now, this one, where Sánchez cites Inga Clendinnen and Alejandro Usigli’s Los aztecas: una interpretación (The Aztecs: An Interpretation):
[The historian] says with a certain sneer: ‘To mourn the disappearance of the Aztec Empire is more or less like feeling regret at the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. Aztec culture was a bloody totalitarianism based on human sacrifices.’
There’s more:
Who would even dare think that the Spaniards of that time were going to dedicate themselves to the extermination of human beings?
Then Sánchez goes out to say that the Spaniards were moral beings because they were surrounded by cathedrals.
We give up.
Hit it, Gollum.
By the way, for all of you who think we’re just “overreacting,” Sánchez’s own network condemned his words on April 6, pretty much stating that no one agrees with him and that his words hurt the network’s credibility:
