Spain to deploy over 13,000 officers for pope's June visit

The pope is due to draw huge crowds in the historically deeply Catholic nation when he travels to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters in Madrid, including AFP, that the highest level of a special security plan would be activated throughout the visit, the first by a pope to Spain since 2011.

More than 11,000 police officers and 2,200 Civil Guards would be deployed, while the contribution of additional local forces in the northeastern region of Catalonia that includes Barcelona was to be established, Marlaska added.

Marlaska reeled off a list of "multiple" potential threats, including terrorism, "but also radicalism, other movements such as social movements, which may naturally seize the opportunity to make themselves heard".

After staying in the capital, Leo will inaugurate the newest and tallest tower of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia Basilica, 100 years since the death of its Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.

The Catholic Church declared Gaudi "venerable" in 2025 -- the first step on the path to sainthood.

The American pope will then travel to the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa that is a major route for Europe-bound migrants.

Leo is a vocal defender of migrants, an issue which was also dear to his predecessor Pope Francis.

The fact that the visit "takes place in different territories obviously creates greater complexity for ensuring that it unfolds normally", as all locations are "very different", Marlaska said.

Simultaneous major events, such as a series of concerts in Madrid by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, "do not make it easy", but Spain "has the resources" to secure all the sites, Marlaska said.