On the second day of his landmark official visit to Spain — the first papal trip to the country in 15 years — Pope Leo XIV drew an estimated 1.2 million pilgrims and well-wishers to the streets of Madrid Sunday for an open-air mass at the iconic Plaza de Cibeles, Vatican officials confirmed. Among the thousands of congregants gathered in the central square were Spain’s reigning monarchs, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, who formally welcomed the pontiff to the Royal Palace during opening ceremonies on Saturday. As Pope Leo processed through central Madrid ahead of the service, massive crowds lined the route, waving Vatican and Spanish flags, shouting blessings, and tossing flower petals in his path, with local authorities deploying a large-scale security operation to oversee the event and the subsequent procession through the city center. The Chicago-born pontiff’s visit comes amid growing global attention to his firm anti-war stances, which have already drawn public criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump. On Saturday, during his initial welcome, Pope Leo highlighted Spain’s vocal opposition to ongoing global conflicts and its policy of support for migrant communities, praising the nation’s consistent commitment to upholding international law. That position aligns with recent high-profile diplomatic clashes between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist government and the Trump administration over the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, as well as disputes between Madrid and Tel Aviv over the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Even before Sunday’s mass, large crowds turned out across Madrid to greet the pontiff on Saturday. Later that evening, an estimated 500,000 attendees — the vast majority of them young people — joined Pope Leo for a hours-long prayer vigil near Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium that extended into the night. Addressing the gathered youth, the pontiff issued a stirring call to action: “In the face of the emptiness of indifference and compliance, before the violence of war and lies, you must be the sparks of a new humanity.” Beyond the public masses and processions, Pope Leo’s itinerary includes two unprecedented and highly anticipated events: an address to the full Spanish parliament, marking a rare papal address to a national legislative body in Europe, and a closed meeting with survivors of clerical sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Later this week, the Pope will travel to the Canary Islands alongside Prime Minister Sánchez to hold a memorial honoring thousands of migrants who have lost their lives while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.