Overview
- A joint municipal and ecclesiastical delegation led by Mayor Jesús Julio Carnero, tourism chief Blanca Jiménez, Archbishop Luis Javier Argüello, provincial president Conrado Íscar, and cofradías head Luis Miguel Vegas met the Pope at the Vatican.
- During the audience, the delegation presented a signed reproduction of the 2026 Semana Santa poster by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau and a copy of Miguel Delibes’s El Hereje.
- Valladolid unveiled and promoted its 2026 Holy Week to Italian sector specialists at Turespaña’s Interactive Multimedia Center, and held talks with the Spanish Tourism Office in Rome and Instituto Cervantes director Ignacio Peyró.
- The group celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which Archbishop Argüello said renewed communion with the successor of Peter and conveyed Valladolid’s faith and traditions.
- Officials framed the trip as part of a broader internationalization strategy focused on Italy, while the mayor also pressed for Valladolid to be considered in a possible papal visit to Spain that has not been confirmed.