Eduardo González
The apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Spain will take place from June 6 to 12 and will include meetings with the King and Queen and with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as reported this Thursday by Moncloa Palace. This is the first visit by a Pope to Spain in fifteen years.
According to the official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the King and Queen will offer the Pope a welcoming ceremony in his honor, and the Pope will meet with the Prime Minister and deliver a speech in the Congress of Deputies. During his stay in Spain, he will also travel to the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The last visit by a Pope to Spain was in 2011, when Benedict XVI attended World Youth Day. In this case, the apostolic journey is in response to an official invitation from King Felipe VI and the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
According to sources close to the trip earlier this year, the Pope will visit Madrid from June 6 to 9 and travel to Barcelona on June 10. Finally, Leo XIV will visit the Canary Islands before returning to Rome on June 12.
In the capital, according to the same sources, the Pope, in addition to being received by the King and Queen and Prime Minister Sánchez, will participate in a large vigil with young people at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, before traveling to the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. He will then travel to Barcelona to attend the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia temple, coinciding with the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí, who is currently in the process of beatification.
Finally, the Pope will visit the Canary Islands between June 11 and 12. In October 2024, Pedro Sánchez invited the then Pope Francis to visit the Canary Islands in 2025 to “learn about the reality of the Canarian people” in light of the influx of migrants. The Pope himself later confessed his desire to travel to the Canary Islands, but he was never able to do so.
