Pope Leo XIV at Casa Árabe 

On Monday, June 8, during his tour of the streets of Madrid and before attending the meeting with the city’s diocesan community, the Pontiff changed vehicles inside Casa Árabe’s the garden.

Pope Leo XIV briefly stopped by the Casa Árabe headquarters in Madrid to change vehicles during his tour of our city’s streets. The Pontiff’s open-top vehicle, known as the “Popemobile,” entered the institution’s grounds through the carriage entrance at Calle O’Donnell 1, across from the Retiro Gardens, where a large crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of Leo XIV. Once in our garden, the Pope greeted those present and switched over to a closed vehicle, from which he proceeded to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in order to preside over the meeting with the diocesan community of Madrid.

This brief visit took place as part of Pope Leo XIV’s trip through Spain from June 6 to 12, during which time he visited the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the Canary Islands. This marks the first time a Pope has visited the facilities of Casa Árabe, a Spanish public diplomacy institution that is celebrating twenty years of strengthening ties between Spain and Arab countries this year. 

In Pope Leo XIV’s address delivered in the Hall of Columns at the Royal Palace on Saturday, June 6, before the King and Queen of Spain, the Pontiff invited the audience to “appreciate complexity and study it” [...]. “The presence of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula, for example, constituted a long-lasting political, cultural and religious reality. During that era, there was not only confrontation, but also an attempt to create a space for contact, conversation and dialogue on the meaning of truth among Christians, Muslims, and Jews. At the school of translators founded by King Alfonso X “the Wise,” experts from the three religions collaborated on the translation of the rich Arabic, Greek and Hebrew heritage, contributing to the dissemination of texts such as those written by the philosophers Averroes and Maimonides. In particular, cities such as Cordoba and Toledo became places for mediation between languages, religions and knowledge. However, this is the truth told by European cities: their historical stratification, the fabric of solidarity that shaped their differences over the centuries, transforming inevitable conflicts into starting points.”

With this in view, in 2026, Casa Árabe will be celebrating the legacy of the Andalusi scholar Averroes in Cordoba, on the ninth centennial of his birth (1126–2026), with a special schedule of activities that invites us to take a fresh look at him as a historical figure, and at his legacy and influence on medieval scholarship.