VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV urged Spaniards on Saturday to stop “fanning the flames of polarization” as he arrived in Spain at a moment of political turmoil for the government and a credibility crisis for the Catholic Church.
During his weeklong visit to the once staunchly Catholic country, Leo is expected to reinforce his messages of unity, peace as war rages, welcome for migrants and hope for young Spaniards in the era of artificial intelligence.
In a sign that the clergy sexual abuse crisis continues to overshadow papal trips, the Vatican confirmed late Friday that Leo would meet with survivors during his visit. The Spanish Catholic hierarchy is belatedly reckoning with decades of abuse and cover-up. “Abuses are still an open wound,” the pontiff told reporters.
Leo’s visit, the first to Spain by a pope in 15 years, has three distinct chapters — in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, each with its own focus. His trip concludes Friday.
But Leo isn’t the only VIP garnering attention in Madrid this weekend. Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is holding two shows of his 10-concert series in the Spanish capital while the pope is in town.
Madrid
The highlight of Leo’s visit to Madrid will be his speech Monday to both chambers of the Spanish parliament. Even though Pope John Paul II visited Spain five times and Pope Benedict XVI three, no pope has ever addressed Las Cortes Generales, as the parliament is formally known.
Such speeches are rare and often become one of the most important of a pontificate. The last time a pope addressed a foreign legislature was in 2015, when Pope Francis delivered a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
Leo will find a legislature that is highly polarized, with the ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hammered by a series of corruption scandals and far-right groups such as Vox harshly criticizing the Socialists’ migration policy.
During his welcome address Saturday, Leo appealed to Spaniards, especially political leaders, to put polemics aside and invest in educating young people to appreciate diversity and complexity rather than shunning them. “Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated,” he said.
Leo will also meet with the Spanish royals and preside over a prayer vigil for young people that will recall the last time a pope visited Spain: 2011, when Madrid hosted World Youth Day with Benedict.
Barcelona
Leo arrives in Barcelona in time to celebrate Wednesday’s centenary of the death of famed Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.
Leo will celebrate Mass in Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, and will inaugurate its central spire, the Tower of Jesus Christ, which has made the basilica the world’s tallest church.
Although Catalonia’s beloved native son is on the path to possible sainthood, no announcements on his canonization are expected.
Leo will also visit another place of spiritual importance to Catalans, the Our Lady of Montserrat abbey on the sacred mountain outside the city.
Canary Islands
Leo is to arrive Thursday in the Canary Islands, fulfilling a wish of Pope Francis to minister to the many migrants who arrive on the Spanish archipelago after risking their lives to reach Europe from Africa.
Leo will spend two days in the Canary Islands, which are closer to Africa than the Spanish peninsula, visiting two of the seven islands and meeting with migrants and the humanitarian organizations that provide care for them.
Spain’s government has bucked a general trend in Europe and the U.S. by announcing it will grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without authorization. Sánchez has highlighted the economic benefits of legal migration to the country, which has an aging workforce and low birth rate.
Migrant arrivals in the Canary Islands peaked in 2024 at nearly 47,000, but have fallen dramatically, with just over 2,000 people landing there in the first four months of 2026.
Winfield and Naishadham write for the Associated Press.