Pope Leo XIV brings migration focus to Canary Islands on first papal visit

First papal visit to the Canaries

Pope Leo XIV's arrival in Gran Canaria on Thursday morning will mark an unprecedented moment for the archipelago: no pope has ever visited the islands. The trip, part of a weeklong apostolic journey across Spain, follows stops in Madrid and Barcelona. It comes 15 years after the last papal visit to the country and picks up a plan that Francis had championed but could not fulfill before his death in 2025.

A day centered on migration

The pontiff's first stop after landing at Gando Air Base at 10:50 will be the port of Arguineguín, a focal point for migrant arrivals on the Atlantic route. Beginning at 11:40, he will meet with asylum seekers, volunteers, and humanitarian organizations. Four migrants—from Africa and Latin America—will give testimonies. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected at the gathering, where the Pope will also lay a floral offering.

Clergy encounter and cathedral visit

At 1:30 p.m., León XIV will move to Las Palmas for a closed-door meeting at the Cathedral of Santa Ana. The guest list includes bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, seminarians, and lay pastoral workers from the Diocese of the Canary Islands. The encounter is designed to strengthen the local church, which the Pope will address directly.

Evening mass at the football stadium

The largest public event of the day is a 6:30 p.m. outdoor mass at the Estadio de Gran Canaria. Organizers have already registered 36,000 participants, though the total could reach 60,000. The liturgy will carry an international tone: prayers will be recited in Wolof, a language of Senegal and Gambia, alongside Spanish. The mass will be the final act of the Pope's time on Gran Canaria before he travels to Tenerife the next morning.

Traffic and mobility plan

To clear the way for the papal motorcade, authorities will close roads and restrict parking from 7:00 a.m. in the Triana-Vegueta and Siete Palmas districts. The GC-1 highway will see lane closures, and all access to Arguineguín will be blocked from 9:30 a.m. Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes are banned from main roads until 9:00 a.m. Friday. Government delegate Anselmo Pestana asked residents to rely on public transport throughout the day.

Santa Cruz is ready to host a historic event like the pontiff's visit. Our municipality will demonstrate its organizational capacity in the coming days, as it has done on previous occasions.

Final stop: Tenerife

After a night on Gran Canaria, the Pope will fly to Tenerife Norte–Los Rodeos airport on Friday morning, arriving at 9:10 a.m. He is scheduled to meet migrants at the Las Raíces center and then engage with local integration projects at the Plaza del Cristo in La Laguna. At 12:15 p.m., he will celebrate a farewell mass at the port of Santa Cruz before being seen off at the airport for his return flight to Rome.