**Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands** are the "fundamental" points in the trip that Pope Leo XIV intends to make to Spain this year, as Cardinal José Cobo announced this Friday at the Vatican, where he went to prepare the "draft" of this visit, **still without a closed agenda**.
The cardinal went this Friday to the Vatican Secretariat of State to present a "first draft" of this eventual apostolic trip to its authorities, accompanied by the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello; the archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, and the archbishop of the Canary Islands, José Mazuelos.
"Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands **are the three sees that have been proposed**. It is a first draft that must be passed to the Holy Father so that he can then refine it with the notes he deems appropriate," Cobo told the media.
The American pontiff, also with Peruvian nationality due to his years as a bishop and missionary, **had already expressed his intention to travel to Spain**, a country he toured on several occasions before his election in the conclave of May 2025.
When asked if the pope's visit would be in 2026, the cardinal replied: "Will there be a trip? Yes, at least that is the pope's interest. Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands are the first sees that have been proposed."
The Spanish bishops, also accompanied by the CEE spokesperson, Francisco César García Magán, analyzed these plans at the Vatican Secretariat of State with its substitute or 'number two', Venezuelan archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, and his team.
"This has come directly from the pope. The pope has spoken with each bishop (...) It has been his personal initiative," said Cardinal Cobo.
**Now the Spanish episcopate awaits instructions from Leo XIV** to set in motion "the enormous machinery" of organization and then "make the official invitations" to the Spanish authorities.
"There are good relations, and I believe that Spain, for a long time, has needed and continuously asked for the pope to come. I believe that right now, the opening of this door is a cause for joy and hope for everyone, both for the civil authorities and for the church in Spain," he asserted.
The Canary Islands were already a planned but never realized destination for Pope Francis, who passed away last April, because he wanted to focus on the migratory route, and his successor seems to have the same interest.
"This is a personal interpretation, but Pope Francis already intended to visit the Canary Islands. (...) **The migratory phenomenon is a topic that Pope Leo has also embraced at the beginning of his pontificate**. I believe it is a very important moment to make known the voice of migration in Spain and the great entry points and the situation that is sometimes made invisible," said Cobo.
The agenda is still up in the air, and although no destinations are fixed, pending official confirmation from the Vatican, the Spanish bishops do count on the pontiff visiting Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, which in 2026 celebrates the centenary of the architect Antoni Gaudí.
"The pope wants to go to Spain (...) There are three basic sees, and we will see how it takes shape and what events he wants to host in each of the sees," asserted the cardinal, who **did not rule out other destinations**.
"We have presented him with a thousand invitations. Everyone wants to invite him. We have presented him with the list of invitations, and now he has to see... But we shouldn't exhaust him, because if we take him to Spain and tire him out too much, he might not want to come back," he joked.
Cobo assured that during this meeting at the Vatican, they did not discuss other current issues, but rather focused on preparing this possible trip of the pontiff.
