Pope Leo calls for leaders to reject polarisation as he begins Spanish tour

Pontiff to make marginalised a focus of first papal visit since 2011 including meeting with migrants in Canary Islands

Pope Leo has urged political leaders to seek unity, rather than divide their populations for political gain, and said they must fight for peace, in the opening speech of his tour in Spain .

The pope has made the marginalised a focus of his visit – his first tour of an EU country, apart from Italy – including meeting homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands. The pope, who has clashed with the US president, Donald Trump, over his immigration policies and war with Iran, said his visit was aimed at setting an example of respecting “every human being”.

He was also due to meet survivors of sexual abuse by clergy in the Spanish Catholic church – an institution that is only now confronting its history of papered-over abuse. Leo said he would meet a few survivors, admitting that “abuses are still an open wound”.

Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Madrid to greet the pontiff, who toured the city in the popemobile. It is the first time a pope has visited Spain since 2011. There has been a resurgence over recent years in Spain in the number of those who identify as Catholics, with 28.8% of young people identifying as such in 2025, compared with 17.6% in 2010.

The pope is scheduled to give 20 speeches during his tour, with themes emphasising empathy for migrants, anti-demagoguery, and acknowledging what Leo said was a world crying “from its depths for peace”.

“Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarisation seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated,” he said in a speech attended by King Felipe VI at the royal palace in Ma drid. “I invite everyone to set aside the divisive and polarising narratives of your societal reality and history so as to overcome sterile simplifications through the fruitful appreciation of complexity.”

He suggested that technology and social media were playing a role in deepening divisions and preventing societal introspection. Leo recently released a letter focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence, suggesting that humanity was at a moral crossroads as AI technology rocketed forward.

He pointed towards Spain as a country with a history of coexistence between different religions, referencing how Christians, Muslims and Jews lived together peacefully in medieval times and how they cooperated in their respective languages to advance knowledge.

“Your own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity. In reality, the message of peace, which at present, unfortunately, strikes some as naive and others as confrontational, is welcomed by those who do not shut themselves off in preconceived ideologies, but are rather open to the truth,” he said.

Spain, under its socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has launched a mass amnesty programme providing about half a million immigrants with a pathway to legal residency. Spain’s policies are a contrast to much of Europe and the wider western world, which have seen a rise in xenophobia and anti-migration policies in recent years.

In addition to meeting migrants in the Canary Islands, he will meet survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. Spain’s human rights ombudsman estimated in a 2023 report that there were hundreds of thousands of survivors of abuse over past decades.

King Felipe told Leo, in an apparent reference to a recently launched church-state reparations system for some survivors of clerical abuse: “Your clarity and firmness, which I also wish to acknowledge, are essential in the process of healing and repairing the harm inflicted. They are essential for the victims, for the faithful, for the church and for society.”

The Spanish church also suggested that the pope might meet the Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny, who is in the middle of a 10-date run of performances in Madrid. Leo joked that he faced an uphill battle when it came to competing with the pop star for young people’s interest.

“If they were confronted with the question: do they want to see Bad Bunny or do they want to see the pope, I think many will go to see Bad Bunny,” he said on his flight from Rome, before adding: “But I think there will also be a few here to see the pope.”