The pontiff concludes his trip in Tenerife after highlighting the humanitarian challenges facing migrants arriving in the Canary Islands.

Pope Leo XIV is set to conclude his visit to Spain on Friday in Tenerife, ending a tour that included stops in Madrid, Barcelona and Gran Canaria and was marked by repeated calls to place human dignity at the center of social and political responses to migration.

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The final stage of the pope’s visit has focused on the migration realities of the Canary Islands, one of the main arrival points for people crossing from the African continent by sea.

Shortly after landing in Tenerife, Leo XIV is scheduled to visit the Las Raíces migrant reception center, operated by Accem on behalf of Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. The facility provides essential services and guidance to people who reach the islands through the Canary migration route.

According to information provided during the visit, 685 people are currently housed at the center. Most come from Gambia, Senegal and Mali. All arrived in the Canary Islands aboard small boats, and nearly all entered through the island of El Hierro.

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The pope will then travel to Plaza del Cristo in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, home to the Diocese of Nivaria, where he is expected to meet representatives of social and church organizations working with migrant communities.

His agenda will continue in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the island’s capital, where he will travel by popemobile to the city’s port through streets decorated with flowers before returning to the Vatican later in the day.

Pope Leo XIV Visits the Canary Islands

Addressing the humanitarian dimension of migration, Leo XIV praised those who have welcomed people arriving after dangerous journeys across deserts and seas.

He said they had been able to “recognize Christ in those who arrive marked by fear, hunger and violence, after the desert, the night and the sea.”

“The Church cannot turn away from these waters or from any place where hunger, thirst, violence, fear or exile continue to wound human dignity,” the pope said.

Leo XIV also condemned those who profit from the vulnerability of migrants.

“Even today there are monsters lurking in these seas: mafias that traffic in despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and the indifference of many who allow the poor to be swallowed by exploitation or by oblivion,” he stated.

The visit to the Canary Islands marks the conclusion of the pope’s trip to Spain and underscores his emphasis on migration and the protection of human dignity.

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