Pope Leo begins Spain visit with Canary Islands migrant meetings on agenda

MADRID: Pope Leo arrived in Spain on Saturday for a week-long trip that will conclude with meetings in the Canary Islands with migrants who crossed the Atlantic in an attempt to reach Europe.

The June 6 to 12 visit is his first to a European Union country outside Italy and is expected to draw large crowds. The first US pope is also scheduled to become the first pontiff to address the Spanish parliament. His itinerary includes Madrid, Montserrat and Barcelona, where he is due to inaugurate the newest tower of the Sagrada Familia, the modernist basilica that has become the world’s tallest church.

Canary Islands meetings

In the final two days of the visit, Leo will travel to Tenerife and Gran Canaria, off Africa’s western coast, to meet migrants and organisations working with them. Caya Surez Ortega, head of Caritas Canarias, said the stop would signal that the pope stood shoulder to shoulder with migrants.

Referring to the migrants invited to the papal meetings, Surez said:

"The first thing the migrants said to me when they were invited (to the papal meetings) … was their enormous gratitude that he would stand alongside them,"

According to NGO Caminando Fronteras, more than 3,000 people died in 2025 while attempting to reach the Canary Islands, often on makeshift dinghies.

The visit comes as the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has launched a large-scale amnesty scheme under which an estimated 500,000 immigrants can apply for legal status. Sanchez, who has been praised abroad after sharply criticising US President Donald Trump, is trailing in opinion polls and facing criticism over a series of corruption allegations involving his party.

Madrid addresses and strong public interest

Leo is due to deliver two speeches in Madrid to Spain’s political leadership: one on Saturday at the Royal Palace after meeting King Felipe and Queen Letizia, and another on Monday in parliament.

The pope has taken a more forceful public tone in recent months and last week issued a fervent manifesto urging governments around the world to slow the development of AI systems. Leo, who spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope last May, is expected to speak in Spanish throughout the visit.

Organisers said interest in the trip has been high, with more than 500,000 people seeking to attend events. Rafael Rubio, the national coordinator for the visit, said the largest gathering is expected to be an outdoor Mass on Sunday in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles.

"The numbers are astonishing,” he said." The last pope to visit Spain was Benedict XVI in 2011. Narciso Michavila Nuez, a sociologist with the Spanish consulting firm GAD3, said younger Spaniards in particular had shown interest in the visit.

“This is the first time they are going to see a pope,” he said.

Catalonia leg and possible abuse survivors meeting

After three days in Madrid, Leo will travel to Catalonia in northeastern Spain. In Montserrat, about 60 kilometres northwest of Barcelona, he will visit an 11th century abbey built into the cliffs of a mountain range and have lunch with Benedictine monks.

Sister Teresa Forcades, who belongs to a separate nearby Benedictine community of nuns, said her group had not been invited to take part in the events.

“No nun … has been invited to greet the pope or to the lunch,” she said. “Maybe if Pope Leo knew about it, he would like to change it.”

A Vatican spokesman did not respond to a question about why the nuns had not been invited.

Although it does not appear on the public programme, Leo is also likely to meet Spanish survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, with knowledge of the matter. A 2023 report by Spain’s human rights ombudsman estimated that hundreds of thousands of people had been victims of clergy abuse in the country over decades, reflecting scandals that have affected the Church in many parts of the world. The Vatican usually does not announce such meetings in advance in order to protect survivors’ privacy. Leo is not known to have previously met abuse survivors during an overseas visit, though he has already made three trips outside Italy since becoming pope.