The government hopes the Pope’s visit will bolster its geopolitical and migration priorities

Eduardo González The apostolic journey of Pope Leo XIV to Spain, which will take place from June 6 to 12 in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands, is presented as a symbolic endorsement of the highest magnitude, both morally and politically, for the Government's positions in the geopolitical sphere and on immigration matters. This is the first papal visit to Spain in fifteen years. The previous visit was in 2011, when Benedict XVI attended World Youth Day. This time, the apostolic journey is in response to an official invitation from King Felipe VI and the Spanish Episcopal Conference. According to Moncloa Palace, the Pope will arrive in Madrid on Saturday, June 6, and will begin his agenda with a welcoming ceremony at the Royal Palace of Madrid and a courtesy visit to the King and Queen of Spain. The Pontiff already received King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia in audience on March 20, during a visit to the Vatican. Separately, the King and Queen met Pope Leo XIV for the first time in May 2015, after the Mass inaugurating his pontificate. Later that same day, the Pope will meet with authorities, civil society representatives, and the diplomatic corps at the Royal Palace in Madrid. He will then travel to the Lucero neighborhood, a suburb of the city, to meet with workers and people served by the CEDIA 24 Horas social project, a center run by Caritas Madrid for the homeless. This project, founded in 1977, serves a growing number of people each year, reaching approximately 2,500 by 2025. The first day will conclude with a prayer vigil with young people in Plaza de Lima. On Sunday, the Pope will celebrate Holy Mass in Plaza de Cibeles and hold a private meeting with members of the Order of Saint Augustine (a regular event on his trips). Also in the afternoon, at the Movistar Arena, the Pope will participate in an event entitled “Connections with the World of Culture, Art, Business, and Sports.” The day will conclude with a dinner at the residence of the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid. Pedro Sánchez and Congress Monday will be the most politically significant day in Madrid, as it will include a meeting with the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. This meeting will take place ten days after the audience that the Pope will grant the head of the government at the Vatican, on the occasion of the Prime Minister's visit to Rome on May 26 and 27. According to sources at Moncloa Palace, Pedro Sánchez will arrive in Rome on May 26, where he may meet with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and participate in a high-level event on food security and the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, coinciding with Nutrition Week. The "Eternal City" is home to the headquarters of three United Nations agencies related to this issue: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The meeting with the Pope will take place on May 27 at the Vatican and will include a meeting with the Holy See's Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin. Following the meeting with Sánchez, which will be held at the Apostolic Nunciature, the Pope will attend an event at the Congress of Deputies, which will also be attended by members of the government, including Pedro Sánchez. The same sources did not specify how the political parties will be represented, including the far-right Vox party, which has openly opposed the current Pope and the Vatican's and the Spanish Church's immigration policies. In any case, sources at Moncloa Palace have highlighted the significant alignment between the government and the Pope on international policy issues, with particular attention to the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Palestine, and to the Pope's explicit stance in favor of peace and against military solutions. In this regard, the same sources have noted that the Vatican is a true global “diplomatic power,” with its 122 nunciatures, actively participating in numerous mediation and peace processes in many countries and conflicts. Another aspect highlighted by these same sources is the signing of five agreements between Spain and the Vatican since Sánchez's last visit to a Pope, in this case Francis, in October 2024. These agreements, highly satisfactory for the government, concern the exhumation of dictator Francisco Franco, the repurposing of the Valley of the Fallen as Cuelgamuros, the recognition by the Episcopal Conference of a thousand registered properties whose ownership does not belong to the Church, the elimination of two tax exemptions that exclusively benefited the Church, and reparations for victims of sexual abuse within the clergy. The rest of the day will include a meeting with the bishops of Spain at the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference, a lunch with the bishops at the Apostolic Nunciature, a prayer and tribute to the Virgin of Almudena in the cathedral of Madrid and a meeting with the Diocesan Community at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Barcelona The Pope will then travel to Barcelona, where on Tuesday he will participate in a prayer service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia and preside over a prayer vigil at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The following day, he will visit Brians 1 prison and pray the Rosary at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, a Benedictine monastery about 50 kilometers from Barcelona that houses the statue of the Virgin of Montserrat, also known as "La Morenita," proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia in 1881 by Pope Leo XII. The highlight of his time in Barcelona will be his attendance at the inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica, characterized by its dodecagonal shape and a total height of 172.5 meters. The event will coincide with the centenary of the death of the temple's architect, Antoni Gaudí, "the architect of God," declared Venerable in April of last year and currently in the process of beatification. The Pope will also meet with Pedro Sánchez at this event. Canary Islands The most significant part of the pastoral visit, due to its clear focus on migration, will take place on May 11 and 12 in the Canary Islands. In October 2024, Pedro Sánchez invited 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 was unable to do so due to his death. On May 11, Leo XIV will meet in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with organizations working to receive migrants at the port of Argüineguín, the arrival point for thousands of people in recent years. Next, he will meet with bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and pastoral agents, and will celebrate Mass at the Gran Canaria Stadium. On May 12, the last day of the visit, the Pope will travel to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he will meet with migrants at the "Las Raíces" reception center and with migrant integration centers in the Plaza del Cristo in La Laguna. The day will conclude with a Holy Mass at the port of Santa Cruz and a farewell ceremony at Los Rodeos Airport, from where he will depart for Rome. The migration component of this final leg of the trip has been particularly valued by the Government. In this regard, sources at Moncloa Palace believe that the position of the Pope and the Church in general (in fact, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has supported the regularization approved by the Executive) coincides with the Spanish Government's position in favor of an open and welcoming Europe. They also noted that the Pope recently visited several countries that are both sources and recipients of migrants, which aligns with the government's position in favor of working with both countries to address the issue. From April 13 to 23, the Pope undertook an apostolic journey to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, where he addressed, among other topics, the issue of migration.

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