Pope Leo XIV visits Canary Islands to highlight migrant crisis and commemorate lives lost at sea
Pope Leo XIV visited the Port of Arguineguín in the Canary Islands on Thursday, delivering a major speech on migration and throwing flowers into the sea in tribute to those who died making the Atlantic crossing. The port was dubbed the 'dock of shame' in 2020 after thousands of migrants were forced to live in squalid, overcrowded conditions there. The visit fulfills a wish expressed by Pope Francis and marks the first-ever papal apostolic journey to the Canary Islands.
Pope Leo XIV traveled to the Port of Arguineguín in the Canary Islands, a site that became notorious in 2020 when over 2,600 migrants — six times the pier's capacity — were housed in makeshift open-air camps with no showers and inadequate legal access. In one of the most significant speeches of his pontificate, Leo declared that 'human dignity has no passport,' heard testimonies from rescue workers, humanitarian workers, and a Nigerian trafficking survivor, and threw a bouquet of flowers into the sea in tribute to those lost on the Atlantic route. The gesture echoed Pope Francis's 2013 visit to Lampedusa, where Francis denounced the 'globalization of indifference.' Leo appealed to Europe's conscience, warning that the Mediterranean and Atlantic were becoming 'unmarked graves,' while urging countries of origin to address the root causes forcing people to flee. The visit fulfills a wish Pope Francis had expressed as far back as September 2024 but was never able to carry out, and represents the first official apostolic journey by any pope to the Canary Islands. Migrant arrivals to the islands peaked at nearly 47,000 in 2024 but have fallen sharply to just over 3,000 in the first five months of 2026 following EU and Spanish diplomatic pressure on West African nations. Leo is also scheduled to visit Lampedusa on July 4, continuing his predecessor's focus on the plight of migrants.
What's missing
Neither source details what specific policy commitments, if any, European governments or Spain have made in response to the papal visit, nor whether Leo held any formal meetings with Spanish political officials during the Canary Islands leg of his trip.
How coverage differed
Vatican News framed the visit primarily through the lens of hope, spiritual transformation, and local community integration, emphasizing the pastoral and organizational preparations. ABC News focused more on Leo's political challenge to European leaders and the specific content of his speech, including the notable absence of any mention of nations' rights to control borders — a detail Vatican News did not address.
What different sources said
- ABC News InternationalCenter
Pope visiting 'dock of shame' in Canary Islands where migrants slept in squalor
- Vatican NewsCenter
Migration and Canary Islands: From a port of shame to a port of hope
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