Léon XIV in the Canaries: The Holy Father Advocates for Migrants

Pope Léon XIV visited the Canary Islands, where he threw a bouquet of flowers into the sea in memory of migrants who died on the Atlantic route. Before Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, he denounced the mafias exploiting migrants and listened to the testimony of a Nigerian survivor who was raped and whose child was confiscated. According to the IOM, 1,172 people died in 2025 on this route, and nearly 18,000 migrants reached the Canaries last year. The pope also criticized the indifference of individuals who let the poor be swallowed by exploitation.