Pope Leo XIV sets foot in Spain for first time: Church returns to Madrid after 15 years
Pope Leo XIV landed at Barajas Airport on Saturday shortly after 10.30, his first apostolic visit to Spain since being elected on 8 May 2025. Over six days he will visit Madrid, Barcelona, Montserrat, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
Published on 06/06/2026 - 10:39 GMT+2•Updated 10:42
Under the motto “Lift up your eyes”, Leo XIV will travel almost 2,500 kilometres between 6 and 12 June on his first apostolic journey to Spain since he was elected pope on 8 May 2025.
The man who just over a year ago was still Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has landed at Barajas from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, where he boarded his flight at 8.00.
Born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Leo XIV has deep multicultural roots. His father was of French and Italian descent, while his mother came from a Creole family from Louisiana with Dominican, French, African and Spanish ancestors.
That heritage is no minor detail on this trip: Robert Francis Prevost Martínez has Spanish roots on his mother’s side, adding a personal dimension to a visit that already carries considerable historical weight.
He is the first US pope in the two millennia of the Catholic Church’s history. And, as Euronews notes, he is also the first pontiff to hold dual nationality, US and Peruvian, as well as the first Augustinian pope in the history of Catholicism.
21 events in six days: from Cibeles to the Bernabéu
The programme includes 21 events in six days and four destinations: Madrid, Barcelona and Montserrat, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
In the capital, the busiest days fall at the weekend. Up to 1.5 million people are expected at the Corpus Christi Mass in Cibeles and 500,000 at the vigil in Plaza de Lima. The popemobile route will run along Serrano and Goya streets and Plaza de Colón before reaching Cibeles.
On Monday 8, the schedule takes on a more institutional tone: at 9.30, a meeting with the prime minister at the Apostolic Nunciature. At 10.30, a speech to members of parliament in the Congress of Deputies. It will be the first time a pontiff has taken part in an event of this kind in the Spanish Parliament. In the afternoon, at 18.00, there will be a prayer and tribute to Our Lady of Almudena in the cathedral, and at 19.00 a gathering with the diocesan community at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
On Tuesday 9, Leo XIV will leave Madrid for Barcelona, where he is expected to preside over Holy Mass in the Basilica of the Sagrada Família.
Why this visit is different
Several facts place this visit in a category of its own. The last time a pope set foot in Spain was 15 years ago, with Benedict XVI. And although Leo XIV is no stranger to the country – before becoming pope, Robert Prevost visited at least a dozen Spanish cities, including Madrid, where he came on several occasions – the scale of this trip has no recent precedent.
The economic impact is also significant. According to estimates by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, the pope’s seven-day stay in the country will cost around 25 million euros, but could generate an economic return of more than 150 million. Booking.com is already registering the effect: the platform has seen a sharp rise in searches for accommodation in cities on the papal itinerary, with increases of 52% in Barcelona and 46% in Madrid.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, summed it up this week: Leo XIV’s trip to Spain is a sign that, despite the secularisation of society, the pope “still has something to say in many spheres, in Spain and in Europe, where he can play a constructive role in public debate”.
