The last time the Pope spoke on this subject, he was very clear in his intentions. “I think about it a little, go to the Canary Islands because there is the situation with the migrants arriving from the sea and I would like to be close to the leaders and people of the Canary Islands,” he said.
This was expressed just a month ago, during the press conference aboard the papal plane after his last trip to Asia and Oceania. He had previously mentioned the possibility of going to the Canary Islands on other occasions, but he had never been so explicit before.
It is a visit which Pedro Sanchez will try to close this Friday at the Vatican. The president will travel there, where he will have a private audience with the pope. This will be the second between the two after the 2020 meeting in which they were also present. Begoña Gomezaccompanying her husband.
La Moncloa announced this Monday that the objective of the meeting would be to discuss the escalation of the war in the Middle East. “Given the seriousness of the events,” the official note states, “President Sánchez wants to continue to join forces in favor of peacecalling for diplomacy and dialogue rather than military means.
The harmony between the head of the Executive and Pope Francis is total on this issue. However, the diplomatic sources consulted explain that this question could be addressed in the first part of a meeting, which will last half an hour, and that then it is very likely that the question of immigration will appear.
These same sources give “In fact” that Sánchez will carry under his arm a formal invitation to go to the Canary Islands. The kings have already expressed to the Argentine pope their desire to see him come to Spain, which didn’t do during the 11 years of his pontificate, as the Spanish episcopal leadership has reiterated to him on several occasions.
It is precisely at this moment that the ecclesiastical hierarchy of our country is in Rome to participate in the Synod of Bishops which is being celebrated there throughout this month. And sources from the Episcopal Conference too They are counting on Sánchez to transmit the request to the Pontiff go to the Canary Islands.
Bergoglio has always preferred to travel to the outskirts rather than to any European country, barring special circumstances. And now, the Canary Islands combine these two conditions, due to their geographical location and the crisis they are going through in recent months due to the difficulties in welcoming migrant minors in overcrowded centers.
Pedro Sánchez, the Pope and Begoña Gómez at the Vatican in 2020.
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“He has it in mind and is determined to go for it. And if he wants, he willif there are no political disadvantages, which at the moment do not exist,” indicate sources close to the Vatican Curia.
It would in no case be an imminent trip, emphasize these same sources. Francis traveled the entire month with the Synod of Bishops, then he will begin preparations for the Jubilee Year which will be celebrated in 2025 in Rome.
What is certain is that it would be a quick trip and it would be limited to the Canary Islandswould not stop on the peninsula.
The Pope would add another frontier – his obsession during the pontificate – to his list of official trips and Sánchez would get one photo of high political value to confront a problem which, in recent months, has become a new subject of partisan battle.
Breakdown of negotiations
This Thursday, before going to Rome, the head of the Executive will meet in Moncloa the Canary Islands president, Fernando Clavijo. The meeting, in fact, should have taken place on Friday, but the confirmation of the audience with the Pope now explains the progress of the meeting with the Canarian president.
Clavijo’s presence in Moncloa is limited to the series of contacts that Sánchez has with regional presidents to discuss financing. But obviously, the question of immigration will be on the table.
Clavijo, who already met Sánchez this summer, calls for reform of the immigration law that accelerates transfer of migrant minors from the Canary Islands to other parts of the peninsula. For this, an agreement with the PP is also necessary, but negotiations between socialists and people are at a standstill.
Last Saturday, the PP decided not to attend a meeting that should have taken place this Monday between its spokesperson in Congress, Miguel Telladoand the Minister of Territorial Policy, Angel Victor Torres. The Conservatives’ argument is that the government has not asked for EU help to try to relocate migrants to other countries.
They hold up a letter from the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyenin which she tells the popular MEP Dolors Monserrat that the EU can provide support to relocate unaccompanied migrant minors “at the request of Spain”. However, the government sees this argument as an excuse not to sit down to negotiate.
So, a hypothetical commitment by the pope to visit the Canary Islands could calm things down. And of course, it would allow Sánchez to score a point by having such an influential figure bring the Canary Islands problem to the forefront. eyes of the whole world.
A message to Spain
The last time Sánchez was at the Vatican, the Pontiff resorted to an unprecedented strategy that he has not repeated with any president. Normally these hearings are private, without any form of public exposure, but that day Bergoglio wanted everyone to know the content of his message.
He gave a ten-minute speech to Sánchez and his wife, in which he insisted on the need to articulate a consensus. “Ideologies sectarianize, ideologies deconstruct the homeland“They’re not building,” he said.
The Pope gave as an example the rise of Nazism in Germany and in Moncloa they interpreted it as a warning against the extreme right.
Of the diplomatic apparatus throw May this time there be a new message for Spain with lights and stenographers. The visit will be quick, Sánchez will spend the morning in Rome and will immediately leave for a summit on the Mediterranean in Cyprus.
