The Pope's visit to Spain: few confirmed facts and much interest

Since last February 25, when the Holy See confirmed the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Spain following an invitation from the King and Queen of Spain, the ecclesiastical, political and social «machinery» has been at work to receive, 15 years later, a pontiff on Spanish soil.

As already announced, the cities visited by the pontiff will be Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands. Although there are less than 100 days left for this visit, the official agenda remains unknown.

This morning, Rafael Rubio, in charge of communications for the Pope's visit; Sara de la Torre, Episcopal Delegate for Media of the Archbishopric of Madrid; and Josetxo Vera, Director of the CEE Information Office, have released some information, especially dedicated to the press, of a visit that is being prepared against the clock and of which there are still many points to be worked on.

Data in drips and drabs

So far, very little data has actually been confirmed and those few have been released in dribs and drabs.

Robert Prevost will land in Madrid on June 6 and will be in the capital until the morning of June 9. During this stage, the celebration of Corpus Christi, with an open-air Mass on Sunday, June 7, and the celebration of a Vigil with young people, will be the key events. Although «the request of the Congress and the Senate» has been made, the Pontiff's address to the Spanish parliamentarians on the morning of June 8 has not yet been officially confirmed.

From Madrid, Leo XIV will travel to Barcelona, where he will stay until the morning of the 11th. On the 10th he will inaugurate the new tower of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia and will more than likely visit Montserrat.

Canary Islands receives a Pope for the first time

The Canary Islands is, without a doubt, the historical milestone of this long papal trip. It is the first time that a pontiff visits the archipelago.

In this visit, Leo XIV takes up one of the «unfinished journeys» of his predecessor. The pontiff will fly back to Rome for about 24 hours, from the afternoon of the 11th to the evening of the 12th.

Pope Francis, in fact, in his concern for the migratory situation, had stated on some occasions that, if he were to travel to Spain, he would do so to the Canary Islands to make this situation visible and show his closeness to the people of the Canary Islands.

The islands will be the last stop of Leo XIV's trip on June 11 and 12 and, according to the information that has come to light, the pontiff will visit the dock of Arguineguín, epicenter of the Atlantic migratory crisis, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna.

Urgent needs: funding and volunteers

Among the few data offered by the official website of the trip, www.conelpapa.es, which does not have a profile on social networks - shows the two main needs of the organization for this trip: economic funding and the need for volunteers.

Financial support is necessary for a visit, whose budget is estimated at several tens of millions of euros, while the dioceses and the EEC are also looking for volunteers to help coordinate the hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend the various events, especially in Madrid.

On this occasion, the official website of Leo XIV's trip has set up a system for personal donations - which redirects to the Episcopal Conference website «Donoamiiglesia«- as well as for companies and organizations who can collaborate or sponsor this event financially or in kind.

The last papal visit, that of Benedict XVI in 2011 for World Youth Day, was financed, for the most part, thanks to private entities, sponsorships and personal donations, and had an economic impact of more than 100 million euros for the Spanish economy, especially in Madrid, the site of that WYD.