Pope Leo XIV sets foot in Spain for first time as pope: Church returns to Madrid after 15 years
Pope Leo XIV landed at Barajas airport at 10.30 on Saturday, opening his first apostolic visit to Spain since 8 May 2025. Over six days he will travel to Madrid, Barcelona, Montserrat, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
Published on 06/06/2026 - 10:39 GMT+2•Updated 10:49
Under the motto 'Lift up your eyes', Leo XIV will travel nearly 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 arrived at Barajas from Rome’s Fiumicino airport, where he boarded at 8.00.
Born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Leo XIV has deeply 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 American pope in the two millennia of the Catholic Church’s history. And, as we reported on 'Euronews', he is also the first pontiff with dual nationality, American 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 with 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 Mass in Cibeles and 500,000 at the vigil in Plaza de Lima. The route of the popemobile will run along Calle Serrano, Goya and Plaza de Colón before reaching Cibeles.
On Monday 8, the agenda takes on a more institutional tone: at 9.30, a meeting with the prime minister at the Apostolic Nunciature. At 10.30, an address to MPs in the Congress of Deputies. It will be the first time a pope 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 meeting with the diocesan community at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
On Tuesday 9, Leo XIV will leave Madrid for Barcelona, where he is expected to celebrate Holy Mass in the Basilica of the Sagrada Família.
Why this visit is different
There are facts that 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 several times – the scale of this trip is without 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 involve a cost of around 25 million euros, but could generate an economic return of more than 150 million. Booking.com is already seeing the effect: the platform has detected a sharp rise in accommodation searches in the cities on the papal itinerary, with increases of 52% in Barcelona and 46% in Madrid.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, put it this way 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 areas, in Spain and in Europe, where he can play a constructive role in public debate".
