Madrid, Spain – Spain, a country with a Catholic tradition, but with a strong tendency towards secularization, will be the scene of Pope Leo XIV's first major trip to a European nation. His agenda, which will take him to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, will be marked by meetings with the most vulnerable sectors, religious acts before crowds – with the inauguration of the new Sagrada Familia tower as the main event – ​​and an unprecedented speech in the Spanish Congress, in the midst of a growing political division in the country.

First modification: 06/05/2026 - 22:44 Last modification: 06/05/2026 - 23:01

This Saturday, June 6, Pope Leo XIV will begin an intense six-day visit to Spain, in which he will visit Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, being his first major trip to a European country since the beginning of his pontificate in May 2025.

As usual, each step of this papal tour – something that has not happened since Benedict XVI's third and last apostolic visit to Spain in August 2011 – is carefully calculated and seeks to convey a message from the head of the Catholic Church, who in recent months has become a voice against international conflicts.

This has earned him a direct confrontation with President Donald Trump for his rejection of the war started by the United States and Israel against Iran, but has not conditioned his calls for peace and disarmament, which he is expected to repeat during his tour of Spain.

But in the Iberian country, it will also hold meetings with the most vulnerable sectors at each stop; will feature mass baths in open spaces and stadiums; and will offer speeches in two of the centers of Spanish political power: the Royal Palace and Congress.

He will be the first pope to address the Cortes Generales, with a message that – as Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni explained on Wednesday – will point to the need to overcome polarization through dialogue and culture "without becoming enclosed in differences."

The most vulnerable, at the center of the Pope's trip to Spain

"Lift your eyes" is the motto of the papal visit to Spain. The phrase floods the streets of the center of Madrid, where preparations are being finalized for the first and most extensive stop on the route of Leo XIV.

They are three words that have their biblical origin in the Gospel of John, but that, within the framework of this journey, have given rise to multiple interpretations. In the strictly religious sense, it is associated with raising our gaze towards God and, according to the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), it is a "call to hope and the renewal of the Christian heart."

But it has also been considered to raise our gaze towards others and, in the context of this visit, towards the most vulnerable. Hence, the Pope's agenda includes meetings of a social nature in each of the cities.

In Madrid, after the protocol reception of the kings, Leo XIV will visit a Cáritas center for the reception of homeless people; In Barcelona, ​​he will tour the Brians prison, continuing with a common gesture of Pope Francis, to approach the prisoners; and in the Canary Islands, a destination that his predecessor wanted but could not visit, he will hold several meetings with migrants and Christian organizations that assist them, and will hold a ceremony in the port of Arguineguín, emblem of the dangerous routes of irregular immigration.

There he will deliver a wreath in honor of the victims and it is expected that he will highlight the dignity of welcome and empathy in the face of the human drama of these journeys.

"The Pope is going to enter Spain through the world of fragility, the world of victims and the world of the wounded," explained Cardinal José Cobo Cano, archbishop of Madrid.

During the presentation of the visit agenda, Cobo stressed that, by scheduling the tour of the Cáritas facilities for the 'homeless' as his first activity, Leo XIV has decided that this will be "the gateway to his speeches" and "the focal point of absolutely everything."

"It is not innocuous that the gateway to the entire visit is also the place of the poorest, where the Church is working with the poorest. Because it is a position statement, but also a discursive statement," he insisted.

But "looking up" can be understood in the strictest sense in Barcelona, ​​where Pope Leo

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In Barcelona, ​​height will mark the papal tour with other events such as the June 9 vigil at the Montjuic Olympic stadium (177 meters above sea level) or prayer at the Montserrat Abbey, the iconic Barcelona mountain that is the spiritual and cultural heart of Catalonia.

Within the agenda, of course, there are four masses planned: in Madrid, a massive religious celebration is expected in the iconic Plaza de Cibeles, on June 7; in Barcelona, ​​he will do it in the Sagrada Familia (10); and the rest will take place in Gran Canaria (11) and Tenerife (12).

In addition, two venues used to host large sporting and cultural events will host meetings between the Pope and civil society in the Spanish capital: in the Movistar Arena he will hold talks with members of the world of business, sports and culture; and at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium he will address Christian families.

Meanwhile, young people will also be a group that the Pope will address with greater attention, especially during a vigil in Madrid's Plaza de Lima, on the same day of his arrival in Spain.

And, according to the barometer of the Sociological Research Center (CIS), the segment of young people between 18 and 29 years old, although it continues to be the furthest from religion, is the only one that has seen a lukewarm rebound in its identification with Catholicism, within the framework of a Spanish society that, from its Christian tradition, has turned to a strong secularization.

"It is not an exclusively Catholic phenomenon, but it is true that in Catholic societies, among Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) there is a return to faith," explains Narciso Michavila, sociologist and president of the social research consultancy GAD3.

The factors that influence this slight trend are varied, experts say, but they can be mentioned that the approach to religion is no longer, in many cases, imposed but rather occurs by choice and in a much more hybrid way, less dogmatic and mixing beliefs; or that young people may be attracted to belonging to a group, amid current economic uncertainty and social isolation.

"We live in an increasingly secularized society, the Spain of today is not that of 50 years ago nor that of 15 years ago, but it is also true that today's young people have a very different approach to spirituality, to religion, to faith from what their parents have had," adds Michavila.

The Pope's speech to polarized Spain

In the political sphere, as has been mentioned, the most outstanding will be the unprecedented speech in Congress, thanks to an invitation issued by senators and deputies. It is one of the elements that gives this trip the status of a state visit, something that has not happened in Spain since John Paul II's trip in 1982.

Although the Tables of both chambers – governing bodies of the legislative bodies, which have plural representation but do not bring together all the political parties of the Senate and Congress – unanimously approved the call to the Pope, that is as far as the understandings go in a turbulent and polarized context of Spanish politics.

For the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the visit of León These events have been the reason for an increase in calls from the opposition to call early elections, something that Sánchez has rejected and that, for the moment, allows him to remain in power with the support of several minority parliamentary partners.

It is in this context that Sánchez has sought to show harmony with the Supreme Pontiff, whom he described as a "moral compass against injustice" after his recent meeting in the Vatican on May 27, a meeting that was overshadowed because that same morning, Civil Guard agents carried out a documentation request at the PSOE headquarters, within the framework of an investigation into possible corruption.

However, Sánchez and Leo

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That international image, in contrast to his deterioration internally, is something that experts believe that the head of the Spanish government will try to project with his participation in as many events as possible alongside the Pope. In fact, this has earned him some sarcasm from the media and opposition politicians, who have stressed that Sánchez will participate in religious ceremonies for the first time.

There is, however, some concern about the political instrumentalization of the Church. Be it Sánchez, the ultra-conservative president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, or the far-right party Vox, which stands as a defender of Catholic values ​​although its leader Santiago Abascal has regularly clashed with the social outlook of the bishops, even accusing the EEC of "doing business with illegal immigration."

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In a hearing with the Executive Commission of the EEC on November 17, Leo XIV "reflected, among other things, on the risks of subjecting faith to ideologies, without mentioning any specific group," the Episcopal Conference itself revealed in a press release.

For Rafael Domingo Oslé, professor of Roman Law at the University of Navarra, it is "inevitable" that the papal visit will be immersed in the climate of polarization. "Some party will emphasize what is best for them and silence the rest; another will try the opposite," he said in statements to the Catholic media ACI Prensa.

According to the jurist, "Spain is experiencing a moment of profound social fragmentation, aggravated by a political class incapable of lowering its tone" and, although he highlights that "a papal visit does not resolve, by itself, a crisis of that nature", it "can do something that politics, by its own logic, no longer manages: offer a common framework and a shared language."

Victims of abuse, included at the last minute on the papal agenda

Within the framework of the papal visit, the National Stolen Childhood Association (ANIR), which brings together victims of sexual abuse within the Church in Spain, presented a request to be received by Leo XIV during his visit to the country.

As its president Juan Cuatrecasas explained to the EFE agency, that request remained unanswered until the early hours of this Friday. "They treat us like spoil. What can we expect from the Church," lamented the head of the organization, which has been involved in the ongoing process between the Spanish Government, the Church and the Ombudsman to compensate the thousands of victims of cases of abuse, even when the statute of limitations has expired.

However, late this Friday, June 5, the Vatican press office confirmed that Leo XIV will hold a private meeting with victims of sexual abuse, without specifying what day it will be, where it will be or who will participate. Some details will be released only after the meeting takes place, always under "respect for their will and privacy," the Holy See indicated.

The meeting has been organized by the Spanish Church and, among the participants, there could be members of the Repara association, a project of the archdiocese of Madrid for the care of victims and the prevention of sexual, spiritual and conscientious abuse in their ecclesial environment.

It remains to be seen if this announcement is considered sufficient by those affected and if it calms the discomfort of several associations, which had threatened to mobilize on Monday, June 8, near the Nunciature, the Vatican embassy in Madrid, which will house Leo XIV, coinciding with the meeting he will hold with Pedro Sánchez.

"It is outrageous to see how while the Pope maintains an open-door policy for politicians, businessmen and various Spanish powers, he simultaneously adopts a stance of closed doors for survivors of clerical pedophilia," lamented in a statement Miguel Hurtado, spokesperson for Reparación Integral Now (RIYA) and the first complainant of a case of abuse in the Montserrat Abbey, in Barcelona, ​​a site that the pontiff will visit on June 10.

In his statement, released before the Vatican's announcement, Hurtado had pointed out that even if a meeting were called "at the last minute," that would mean that many victims would not be able to travel to participate, "an intolerable discrimination based on geography."

The victims of the outrages of pedophilia are not the only ones who distance themselves from a papal visit that, beyond arousing great media interest and fervor among religious people, is far from arousing unanimous enthusiasm.

For many citizens, traffic cuts and transportation disruptions are a headache, despite the fact that the Madrid Mayor's Office has recommended that companies have teleworking during this period. "You can't paralyze an entire city because of a pope's visit," complains a middle-aged woman at the exit of the Sol metro, in a center of the Spanish capital absorbed by preparations.

Also, two left-wing political parties, Podemos and the Galician Nationalist Party, have refused to participate in the Pope's speech in Parliament.

Podemos spokesperson Pablo Fernández explained on Monday that their refusal to participate is due to the fact that they have not received a response to a letter in which they asked the Pope to collaborate in "truth, justice and reparation for the victims of the Spanish Church", both in cases of abuse and in issues linked to the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Fernández stressed that "a non-denominational State should not receive with honors the highest leader of the Church" as long as it "does not collaborate with truth, justice and reparation in relation to the stolen babies" during the Franco regime.

Broader is the repudiation of various organizations that defend the secularism of the State and its separation from the Church, who reject the reception of the Pope in the Cortes Generales and demand the repeal of agreements between the Spanish State and the Vatican, which translate, they point out, into fiscal and economic benefits for the Catholic Church.

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