Overview
- The Pope, who arrived Saturday, has presided over huge public gatherings in Madrid including a youth vigil and a Corpus Christi Mass at Cibeles that officials put between about 1.1 million and 1.5 million attendees.
- On Monday the pontiff gave a historic address to a joint session of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate — the first time a pope has spoken to Spain’s combined chambers — and met Spain’s prime minister at the Nunciature beforehand.
- León XIV has combined public pastoral gestures with institutional outreach, visiting a Cáritas center in Lucero, embracing a Senegalese migrant and reportedly giving him a copy of a residence document, and he is expected to meet Spanish bishops and possibly abuse survivors.
- Madrid authorities rolled out major security and mobility measures for the papal movements, including road closures on his routes, reinforced Metro, Cercanías and bus services, and municipal advice to telework to limit disruption.
- The visit is already reshaping political debate by underlining the Pope’s criticism of identitarian and populist politics, prompting praise from parts of the left, friction with the right over migration and cultural issues, and immediate effects on media attention to government scandals as he prepares to travel to Barcelona and the Canary Islands through June 12.