As Pope Leo XIV begins his apostolic journey to Spain, AdVaticanum can reveal details of the vehicles that will accompany him across Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands during the six-day visit.
The Pope will travel in two popemobiles brought from Rome and three specially adapted electric vehicles designed to allow closer contact with the faithful during a packed programme of public events. The arrangements form part of a major logistical operation involving the Vatican, Spanish Church authorities and the Spanish Armed Forces.
The two popemobiles arrived in Spain aboard Spanish Air Force transport aircraft, first stopping to deposit one of the cars in Barcelona before the other was taken to Madrid. Both carry the Vatican registration SCV 1.
The first vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz 500, will serve during the Madrid portion of the journey before being flown to Gran Canaria. Iconic in design, Mercedes-Benz popemobiles have been the backbone of the Vatican’s fleet for decades.
The Barcelona popemobile has been made by the Japanese automobile maker Isuzu and is labelled as the D-MAX. Isuzu popemobiles came to prominence during the 2015 papal trip to the Philippines, and during this papal trip the vehicle will be used for the Pope’s engagements in the Catalan capital before it is transferred to Tenerife to meet the Pope upon his arrival on the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands.
Alongside the popemobiles, Leo XIV will also use three electric buggy-style vehicles specially designed for indoor settings and to facilitate close encounters with pilgrims. Two of the electric vehicles are being prepared in Spain, with one built in Madrid and another adapted in the Canary Islands, while a third has been transported from Rome.
The papal visit, which runs from 6 to 12 June, will take Leo XIV to Madrid, Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife. It is the first papal visit to Spain since Pope Benedict XVI travelled to Madrid for World Youth Day in 2011. Pope Francis never visited the country, and Pope Leo’s decision to visit the historically Catholic country so early in his pontificate is generally seen as an acknowledgement that Spain is due a papal appearance.
Historically, popes moved amongst crowds using the sedia gestatoria, a portable ceremonial throne consisting of an armchair upholstered in fine silk, mounted on a raised platform and carried on the shoulders of twelve attendants in uniform. It was last used during the very brief 1978 pontificate of John Paul I.
The first instance of a pope owning a car came when Pius X was given a 20/30 Itala by the Archbishop of New York, John Farley, in 1909. Pius reportedly refused to use the car, preferring his horse-drawn carriage. Pope Pius XI is known to have used a car, though his car use would have been limited to short trips in the Rome area. Having adopted the title “prisoner of the Vatican”, his movements were restricted. Even after the 1929 Lateran Treaty went a significant way towards regularising relations between the Italian state and the papacy, Pius XI’s travel did not extend much beyond the short drive to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence. In 1930, Mercedes-Benz gave Pius XI a Nürburg 460, which is often described as the first popemobile, though the term had not yet been coined.
It was not until Paul VI that the papacy began significant international travel, with Paul visiting 20 countries across six continents during his reign. Paul VI used specially adapted vehicles during these journeys, but the famous popemobiles seen today, with their raised papal seat, became common during the pontificate of John Paul II, who visited 129 countries during his 26-year pontificate.
For John Paul II’s 1979 papal trip to the United States, Ford specially designed a 1979 Bronco for the visit, which is believed to be the first vehicle commonly called a “popemobile”. Since then, the name has stuck with each pontificate. There have been variants of the car to match the wishes of each pope, but they have retained their iconic design and become a feature of the papacy.
