Pope Leo heads to Canary Islands on mission to help migrants

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT — Pope Leo departed on Thursday for the final leg of his visit to Spain, flying from Barcelona to the Canary Islands, where he is expected to meet migrants who have crossed dangerous Atlantic routes. The pope has used the trip to call for more humane treatment of migrants worldwide.

The visit to the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa is a key moment in his weeklong tour, during which he has also warned that rising global conflicts are pushing the world into a deeper moral and political crisis.

Juan Carlos Lorenzo, coordinator of the Spanish Commission for Refugees in the Canary Islands, described the visit as a meaningful gesture for migrant rights. Leo is scheduled to meet around 1,000 migrants on Friday.

“It will serve as a strong affirmation of human rights, respect, and the dignity that every person deserves, regardless of origin,” Lorenzo said.

The pope is expected to land on Gran Canaria, one of the main islands, at about 10:50 a.m. local time (0950 GMT). Upon arrival, he will meet aid organizations working with newly arrived migrants and later lay flowers at a memorial dedicated to those who died at sea.

According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, more than 3,000 people died in 2025 while attempting the crossing to the Canary Islands, one of the most perilous migration routes in the world.

Leo has been increasingly vocal about global leadership failures in addressing migration. Speaking to the Spanish parliament on Monday, he said the lack of protection for migrants was undermining “the ethical foundation of the international order.”

Spain has taken a relatively more open approach to migration compared with many European countries, introducing a program aimed at granting residency to more than 500,000 undocumented migrants.

However, the policy has drawn strong criticism from far-right political leaders in Spain and across Europe, while authorities continue to face delays in processing legal status applications for thousands of migrants.

-Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Additional reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by Tomasz Janowski / Reuters