Pope Leo Appeals for Humane Treatment of Refugees in Spain's Canary Islands

Pope Leo has appealed to world leaders to treat refugees and migrants more humanely, warning in a visit to Spain’s Canary Islands – one of Europe’s migration hotspots – that history would condemn those who allowed people fleeing war ⁠or poverty to suffer.

In what he called an “appeal to the conscience” of politicians in Europe and the international community on Thursday, the first American pope said that “human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border”.

“We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead,” said the pope at Gran Canaria’s Port of Arguineguin, dubbed the “Dock ⁠of Shame” by relief organisations after some 1,000 people were stranded in squalid conditions there in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“May history not accuse us of turning the pain of those who suffer into a common sight along our shores,” he said to thousands gathered near a memorial to migrants lost at sea.

“Sooner or later, it will be known whether we protected life or whether we yielded to indifference.”

Leo arrived in the Canary Islands earlier on Thursday, fulfilling a long-held wish of his predecessor, Francis, who died a year ago without making a planned trip to the islands, one of the main entry points into Europe for people fleeing conflict and poverty.

The stop in the Spanish archipelago off the western coast of Africa is a centrepiece of the pope’s weeklong tour of Spain, in which he has also warned that escalating conflicts have pushed the world into a profound crisis.

Juan Carlos Lorenzo, coordinator of the Spanish Commission for Refugees in the Canary Islands, said that Leo’s visit to the Canaries, where the pope will meet with about 1,000 refugees and migrants on Friday, was a “significant milestone”.

“It will serve as a strong affirmation of the defence of human rights, respect and the dignity that all people deserve, regardless of their origin,” said Lorenzo.

At least 3,090 people died in 2025 trying to reach the Canary Islands, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras.

A year prior, more than 46,000 migrants reached the archipelago off northwestern Africa – a record year – often in packed, unseaworthy boats.

Leo, who has spoken forcefully against the direction of global leadership in recent months, told the Spanish parliament on Monday that a lack of help for the world’s migrants was challenging “the ethical foundation of the international order”.

In contrast with most of Europe, Spain has adopted a more open stance on migrants, introducing a programme to grant residency to more than half a million undocumented people.

The initiative, however, has drawn criticism from far-right leaders in Spain and across the continent, and the country is struggling with the slow pace of granting legal status to thousands in limbo.