The Pope will start his visit with mass in Santiago de Compostela Pope Benedict XVI is preparing to begin a visit to Spain, where social changes have eroded Catholic influence in recent years.
The Pope will visit Santiago de Compostela, and celebrate an open-air mass outside the cathedral.
On Sunday he will continues to Barcelona.
There he is due to consecrate the Sagrada Familia church, still unfinished more than a century after Antoni Gaudi designed it.
This is Benedict’s second visit during his papacy, and a third visit is planned next year for World Youth Day, a sign of how important the Vatican considers the health of the church in Spain.
Only 14.4% of Spaniards regularly attend mass, and legal changes to allow divorce, gay marriage and abortion have caused concern to the Catholic church.
But 73% of Spaniards still define themselves as Catholic.
In Santiago, the Pope will pray at the tomb of St James, the focus of pilgrimage to the city for many centuries. He will then celebrate mass outside the 12th century cathedral.
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But some shopkeepers are disappointed by the number of people coming to the city for the Papal visit.
“There are still no people, we’re very surprised,” one souvenir shop owner told the Agence France-Press news agency.
In Barcelona, gay activists are calling for a kiss-in outside the Sagrada Familia when the Pope arrives to consecrate it.
After his visit, the church will hold daily masses for the first time since its construction was begun in 1882, although it is still not expected to be completed before 2026.
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