The security operation for Pope Leo XIV's visit to Spain, including stops in Madrid, Catalonia, and the Canary Islands, has been named 'Operation Gracia.' This event will require a historic police deployment, testing the country's capacity to handle massive public gatherings.

While specific operational details remain confidential, the Ministry of the Interior and the involved Government delegations have disclosed figures for an unprecedented security deployment, covering four provinces and multiple venues, many of them outdoors. The security plan has been meticulously designed after studying the approximately 40 official events scheduled during the pontiff's six-and-a-half-day trip.

Leo XIV will land in Madrid this Saturday and depart from Tenerife on Friday the 12th. Instruction 2/2026, signed by the Secretary of State for Security, Aina Calvo, establishes the common management framework for this apostolic journey.

The operation will involve 11,000 national police officers, 2,200 civil guards, 4,000 officers from the Madrid Municipal Police, 5,600 from the Mossos d'Esquadra, 500 from the Catalan Urban Guard, and 200 from the Canary Islands Police. The National Police will lead the deployment, with units such as the Special Operations Group (GEO), Police Intervention Units (UIP), and Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR).

Mounted units, canine handlers, air support, and mobile brigades will also participate. Cyber-patrolling agents and personnel from the General Information Commissary will monitor for potential threats on networks, within a context of an enhanced level 4 anti-terrorism alert in Spain. The Pontifical Swiss Guard and plainclothes officers from the Central Protection Unit will form the close security 'capsule' around the pontiff.

Reinforced security perimeters will be established at the Apostolic Nunciature in Madrid and the episcopal palaces in Barcelona and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In anticipation of large-scale events, including the mass at Plaza de Cibeles and celebrations in the Sagrada Familia and the Canary Islands, metal and explosive detectors will be installed.

Approximately 450 cadets from the Police Academy in Ávila will be stationed with experienced officers at these scanners, while 2,100 future officers will support the UIP at security checkpoints. The operation is divided into four phases: 'preliminary,' 'preventive,' 'alert' (current), and 'critical,' which will be activated hours before the Pope's arrival.

The 'critical' phase will cover the three locations: in Madrid from June 6th to 9th, in Barcelona from June 9th to 11th, and in the Canary Islands from June 11th to 12th, until the pontiff's departure.