Pope Leo hits beaches of popular European migrant entry point after criticizing global immigration policies

Pope Leo XIV landed successful Spain's Canary Islands, an epicenter for incoming migrants seeking introduction into Europe, connected Thursday conscionable days aft criticizing the country's migration policies successful a code to Spain's Parliament.

Pope Leo volition conscionable with 1,000 migrants connected Friday to headdress disconnected his apostolic travel to Spain, the European state with the sixth largest Christian colonisation connected the continent.

Following his parliamentary code Monday successful which helium took purpose astatine Europe's migration polices, Pope Leo landed Thursday connected the land chain's Gran Canaria, according to Reuters.

On Thursday helium met with migrants and leaders of planetary organizations that assistance migrants, holding a infinitesimal of soundlessness for migrants who died trying to scope Gran Canaria astatine Port of Arguineguin, a dock which made headlines successful 2020 aft implicit 1,000 migrants ended up stranded determination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Pope Leo XIV observes a infinitesimal of soundlessness aft making a floral offering to migrants mislaid astatine oversea astatine the dock of the Port of Arguineguin successful Gran Canaria, Spain, June 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Elena Rodriguez)

Relief organizations came to telephone the Port of Arguineguin the "Dock of Shame" aft the migrant crisis, a taxable Pope Leo seemed to prime up connected portion speaking astatine the larboard Thursday.

"Dear migrants, earlier saying thing other to you, I privation to bow earlier your dignity," the pope said. "You are not conscionable numbers oregon files. You are radical who person near down families and homes. You person dreams that nary 1 has the close to despise," Pope Leo said astatine the dock.

"We cannot turn accustomed to counting the dead," helium added.

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He besides called for "legal and harmless pathways" for migration worldwide.

Pope Leo XIV connected the time of a gathering with organizations moving with migrants astatine the Port of Arguineguin, during his apostolic travel connected the land of Gran Canaria, Spain June 11, 2026. (REUTERS/Borja Suarez)

Located little than 100 miles disconnected the seashore of West Africa, Gran Canaria has been the destination for thousands of Africans, galore of whom person mislaid their lives attempting to traverse the volatile waters successful tiny boats.

Over 3,000 radical died trying to marque the travel successful 2025 alone, according to the non-governmental enactment (NGO) Caminando Fronteras.

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The Canaries person seen a monolithic uptick successful migrant entries since 2015. In 2024 the archipelago broke records with 46,843 irregular migrants compared to nether 1,000 successful 2015, according to Reuters.

Speaking to media astatine Pope Leo's event, a vessel skipper who assists charities and NGOs successful ferrying migrants said helium had personally helped prevention implicit 20,000 migrants successful the past 18 years, Reuters reported.

"It's a fig that makes maine sick and that you cannot forget," the captain, Tito Villarmea, told Reuters. "I privation we ​didn't person to prevention anyone," helium continued.

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Pope Leo XIV makes a floral offering to migrants mislaid astatine oversea astatine the dock of the Port of Arguineguin successful Gran Canaria, Spain, June 11, 2026. (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS)

Under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain's socialist authorities has liberalized the country's policies connected migration, approving a program successful April to assistance 500,000 undocumented migrants ineligible status.

Spain's blimpish lawmakers, meanwhile, fired backmost aft Pope Leo's Monday code to Parliament.

During his code to lawmakers, Pope Leo called migration a "tragic drama" and said favoritism against radical based connected "national, ethnic, spiritual oregon linguistic origin, oregon due to the fact that of their economical oregon societal status" was a usurpation of the "universal rule of the adjacent dignity of each quality beings."

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But Santiago Abascal, who heads Spain's blimpish Vox party, countered making a constituent that Vatican City has policies against amerciable migration arsenic well.

"I similar the Vatican state's migration policy. If idiosyncratic enters illegally oregon with violence, they are fined, imprisoned and banned from entry. I would similar a akin migration argumentation for Spain," Abascal told reporters Monday.