The acting president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, appeared "very excited" and "proud" to be able to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit Andalusia on his next trip to Spain. Moreno traveled to Madrid to meet the Supreme Pontiff and stated his intention to formally extend an invitation.
Moreno described the visit as "historic" and expressed his hope that, although the Pope has not visited Andalusia on this occasion, he will do so in the future. "There is enormous excitement and expectation," he stated in remarks to the media in the Spanish capital.
“"I would ask the Pope not to forget this blessed land that is Andalusia. Andalucians have a unique popular fervor, special through our Holy Week, our pilgrimages, each and every one of those events so important from a religious point of view, that important popular fervor"
The Andalusian president highlighted that he hopes to convey to the Pope "our passion, our popular fervor, our traditions, our land, which is a Marian land. That he does not forget this south of Europe, that he does not forget the disadvantaged and those great objectives we have set for ourselves as a society. I will wish him a productive Papacy and convey all that passion to him."
Regarding the speech the Supreme Pontiff will deliver at the Congress of Deputies, Moreno expressed he was "awaiting" it, although he indicated he expects it to be "a general discourse" of his Pontificate and not delve into "particularities."
