The flamenco singer Niña Pastori will perform before Pope Leo XIV during the papal visit to Madrid, as confirmed by the Archdiocese of the capital in a meeting with journalists this Thursday. They have also confirmed that the Pontiff will move around the city in the popemobile and that there will be performances by other groups such as Hakuna, Siloé, and Besmaya. The episcopal seat has set its expectations very high with less than a month to go for a visit in which “human dignity must be at the center of everything,” according to Vicente Martín, auxiliary bishop of Madrid.
The announcement comes a day after the confirmation of the full itinerary of the visit to Spain in which the Pontiff will have a tight schedule, including a speech before the Cortes, meetings at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the Movistar Arena in Madrid, and institutional receptions by the Kings.
The Pope’s itinerary in Madrid begins, as the Vatican already announced, on June 6, with his arrival at Barajas airport, where he will be received by Don Felipe and Doña Letizia. From there he will go to the Royal Palace, where an institutional reception and welcome meeting will be held, presided over by the Kings, and attended by representatives of the State institutions, civil society, and the diplomatic corps. There has been no confirmation of who the representatives receiving him will be, but the Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, has assured that he will be received in his capacity as “head of state.”
The performance by singer Niña Pastori will take place after the Pope’s visit to the Cedía 24 Horas center of Cáritas, specialized in comprehensive care and support for homeless people, in the La Latina district. “Artists who generously want to be with us will accompany us. Niña Pastori will close the Cedía event, giving it that color,” announced Laura Moreno, pastoral director of the Pope’s visit to the city.
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At his meeting with young people in Plaza de Lima, 50,000 places have been planned in schools, sports centers, parishes, and even outdoors along the Paseo de la Castellana to accommodate attendees from all over the country. Moreno announced that the religious band Hakuna, and the groups Siloé and Besmaya, among others, will perform at Plaza de Lima.
In the meeting with journalists, the technical director of the trip, Yago de la Cierva, joked that the Pope’s visit coincides with Bad Bunny’s residency at Atlético de Madrid’s Metropolitano stadium. The Pope will be at the rival team’s stadium, and it will be the second time that Santiago Bernabéu hosts an event of a Pontiff, since on November 3, 1982, John Paul II presided over an event at that same place.
On Monday the 8th, the Pope will go to the Congress of Deputies where, for the first time in history, a Pontiff will address the members of the Congress and the Senate. The Archdiocese has not included this day in the agenda because they do not feel like “organizers” of this day, but they have nevertheless thanked the invitation from the Cortes “to receive” the Pontiff’s message and trust that “this event will be cordial.”