Organisers say more than 1.2 million attend Pope’s Mass in Madrid

Madrid surged to a standstill on Sunday morning as more than a million people crowded the capital’s streets and a landmark square for a fleeting look at Pope Leo XIV, who traveled to an open-air Mass set to become the biggest gathering of his week-long visit to Spain.

Flags fluttered above the crowds and chants of “long live the pope” rang out as the pontiff rode in the popemobile along Madrid’s grand Paseo de la Castellana toward Cibeles Square, where he was scheduled to celebrate the Mass. As he entered the square, some in the crowd scattered flower petals in welcome.

Some 1.2 million people were in the square and its surrounding streets, the Vatican and local organisers said.

Pope Leo XIV waves from the popemobile as he arrives to lead the Holy Mass in the Plaza de Cibeles

“May Madrid remain a welcoming and inclusive city, where social life is inspired by genuine human values,” the Pope wrote in a guest book after receiving the key to the city from its mayor.

He said he wanted the trip — his first to an EU country outside Italy — to offer the world an example of respect for “every human being,” and he appealed to political leaders to stop driving divisions among voters.

“I am delighted that he is praying for us migrants and for our safety,” said Andrea Margarita, a 72-year-old Peruvian who arrived in Spain six months ago, as she waited in the crowd in a wheelchair with her daughter.

Following the Mass, the Pope was due to meet privately in the afternoon with fellow members of his Augustinian religious order before heading to a concert venue in central Madrid for a gathering with figures from entertainment, sport and culture.