Pope Leo arrives in Spain with migrants and polarization in focus

Pope Leo arrived in Spain on Saturday for a week-long visit, his first to an EU country outside Italy, where he will inaugurate a new tower in Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia basilica and meet migrants who braved dangerous Atlantic waters to reach Europe.

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The first American head of the Catholic Church is expected to draw large crowds on the June 6-12 trip, which also includes stops in Madrid, Montserrat Monastery and the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the west coast of Africa.

Leo, who angered U.S. President Donald Trump by criticizing his anti-immigration policies, will meet on the last stop with migrants and organizations dedicated to helping them.

Speaking aboard the flight from Rome to Madrid, Leo said he was making his visit to set a good example to the world regarding respect for human life.

“We can give a very good message … of charity and respect for every human being,” he told reporters.

The situation faced by migrants is profoundly close to the pope’s heart, said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican’s press office. “These are people, and their stories must touch us.”

Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone against the direction of global leadership in recent months, is scheduled to give more than 20 speeches, becoming the first pope to address the Spanish parliament.

He is likely to decry the wars raging around the world and urge dialogue to overcome growing political and social polarisation while in Spain, Bruni said.

Leo spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope last May, and will speak Spanish throughout most of the trip.

But when he meets migrants on the island of Tenerife, he expects to speak French, as many have come from Francophone Africa.

In sharp contrast to many leading Western powers, not least Trump’s United States, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government has opened a mass amnesty program, allowing an estimated 500,000 immigrants to apply for legal status.

More than 3,000 people died in 2025 trying to reach the Canary Islands, often in makeshift dinghies, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras.

Sanchez has been lauded abroad by some for criticizing Trump, but at home is under heavy pressure from a string of corruption allegations against his party.

Leo and his entourage departed from Rome’s Fiumicino airport shortly after 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), heading for Madrid, where he will meet with Spanish King Felipe and Queen Letizia before giving an address to diplomats and civil leaders. On arrival, his plane flew Vatican and Spanish flags above the cockpit.

Later on Saturday, the pope will meet young people in the square outside the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, home to the Real Madrid soccer club, and visit a Catholic charity for homeless people.