“Lift up your gaze” was the slogan of Pope Leo’s weeklong trip to Spain, which concluded on Friday, his first major visit to a European country. While the motto had a clear spiritual message, behind it was a determination to counter polarisation, tackle international challenges and address the issue of mental health.On the aircraft taking him to Spain, Leo had joked with reporters about the fact he would be competing for young people’s attention with Puerto Rican superstar singer Bad Bunny, who had a concert residency in Atlético de Madrid’s Metropolitano stadium.“I think many will see Bad Bunny,” Leo said. “But I think there will also be a few here to see the pope. And that says something, you know.”Ultimately, Leo won that battle, with more than a million faithful turning out to see him officiate an open-air Mass in central Madrid, and tens of thousands more attending other events during his visit.Such turnouts countered the long-held notion Spain’s Catholic tradition has been on an unstoppable slide. While churchgoing figures have dropped steadily over the decades, recent figures suggest younger Spaniards are leading something of a faith-based resurgence.However, much of the pope’s visit was dedicated to secular issues, generating interest among the non-faithful. Within minutes of landing in the Spanish capital, for example, he was delivering a critique of populism.“Today, the temptation to win popularity by fanning the flames of polarisation seems to increase rather than decrease,” he said, urging leaders not to “feed sterile fears”.Pope Leo XIV at a gathering of the Madrid Diocese in the Bernebeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Photograph: Claudia Paparelli/Bloomberg via Getty Images People pray as Pope Leo XIV leads a Holy mass at the Gran Canaria Stadium in Las Palmas on the Canary Island of Gran Canaria on June 11, 2026. Photograph: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/ AFP via Getty Images Within Spain, whose fraught political arena has become particularly toxic in recent months, many saw his words as a reprimand of the far-right Vox party. Despite staunchly defending Catholic values, Vox was critical of Pope Francis’s relative liberalism and has clashed with the Spanish Church over its support of a government migrant amnesty.[ Pope Leo appeals to world leaders for more humane treatment of migrantsOpens in new window ]Leo’s two-day visit to the Canary Islands fulfilled a pending promise made by his predecessor and focused on migration. As a main destinations for migrants attempting to reach Europe, the Canary Islands have received tens of thousands of people who have travelled from North and West Africa in small boats, while thousands more have died attempting the crossing.Pope Leo XIV blesses a child as he arrives to meet with Diocesan charity and welfare organizations in the Church of Sant Augusti in Montserrat, near Barcelona, on June 10, 2026. Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/ AFP via Getty Images A vendor sells commemorative t-shirts as people arrive ahead of a visit to Basílica de la Sagrada Família by Pope Leo XIV on June 10, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. Photograph: Adri Salido/Getty Images On the island of Gran Canaria, Leo made a call for respect and tolerance for all migrants. He also made an appeal to governments to provide safe and legal routes for them, warning that “Europe cannot proclaim human dignity while becoming used to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic being cemeteries without tombstones.”This stance on immigration highlighted his ideological discord with US president Donald Trump. Leo underlined the schism between them when he declared the need for international law to be respected, read as a reiteration of his criticism of US-Israeli military action in the Middle East. He also spoke out against European rearmament, calling instead for “brave diplomacy”.On all these issues, Leo is broadly aligned with Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. A Socialist who is struggling as a litany of corruption probes involves his allies and family, Sánchez has found respite and acclaim on the international stage by frequently drawing the ire of Trump with a bold leftist agenda.Two decades ago, Spanish bishops led street protests against a previous Socialist administration because of its plans to introduce reforms on abortion and same-sex marriage. Catholic-Socialist relations now are much improved and earlier this year, the Church and government reached a long-delayed agreement on a system of reparations for victims of clergy sexual abuse. A 2023 study by the ombudsman found that an estimated 1.1 per cent of Spaniards had suffered abuse at the hands of individuals linked to the Church, the equivalent of 440,000 people. Addressing Spanish bishops, Leo described the abuse as a “scourge” and said victims must receive “truth, justice and reparation”. He also met behind closed doors with some survivors in Madrid. Such gestures were seen as significant, although several victims’ groups complained that they had been excluded and that the lack of a formal event was akin to a whitewash.A large screen shows live images of Pope Leo XIV as he holds mass and blessing of the newly completed Tower of Jesus Christ at the Basílica de la Sagrada Família on June 10, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Fireworks are set off around the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia after Pope Leo XIV blessed Jesus Christ tower during its inauguration on June 10, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. Photograph: Michael Robinson Chávez/Getty Images Leo’s presiding of a Mass in Barcelona’s Sagrada Família basilica on the 100th anniversary of the death of its creator, Antoni Gaudí, provided less controversial ground, as did his blessing of the building’s new Tower of Jesus Christ.However, Spain’s antagonistic politics were never far away. As the visit to the Catalan capital neared, there was frenzied debate over which language the pope would speak while there. Hardline unionists on the right wanted him to use Spanish, which he speaks fluently thanks to his years spent in Peru. But pro-independence politician Míriam Nogueras, grasping his hands as she was introduced to him at the national parliament, begged him, in English, to speak in Catalan when visiting her region.Leo appeased both sides by using both Spanish and Catalan while in Barcelona. He also showed a willingness to address the issue of mental health, when a young woman who had survived a suicide attempt asked him for advice.“It’s important to realise how mental health is increasingly threatened in societies that consider themselves advanced,” he replied, calling for nations’ health services to invest greater resources in this area.[ Pope Leo XIV challenges EU over migration and rearmament policiesOpens in new window ]