An open-air mass led by Pope Leo XIV is expected to draw over one million worshippers to Madrid on Sunday in a highlight of his week-long trip to Spain.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will join crowds of devotees in hot conditions at the emblematic Cibeles Square on day two of the first state visit by a pontiff to Spain since 2010.
Authorities have prepared a huge logistical and security operation, including a stage, seven giant screens, 608 loudspeakers, 2,300 toilets, 10 water points and more than 8,000 fences.
Leo will then lead a procession from Cibeles for hundreds of metres up to the famed Gran Via commercial thoroughfare and back.
More than 30,000 yellow and white carnations – matching the colours of the Vatican flag – will adorn the procession's route in an elaborate floral carpet.
