Augustl 18, 2011 – The Pope rested well after his flight when he arrived at Barajas airport. Before going to Plaza de Cibeles to preside the Welcoming Ceremony with hundreds of thousands of young people waiting, Pope Benedict XVI was met by young children at the doorstep of the Nunciature. He bleessed each one of them and occasionally played with them for a brief moment. He then rode his Popemobile and went straight to puerta de Alcala, the Giant Arch monument built in the late 18th Century. On his way to the Puerta, throngs of people gathered once again on sidewalks and walk ways just to catch a glimpse of the Pope. Arriving at Plaza de la Independencia where Puerta de Alcala is located, the Pope walked through the large middle gate of the Puerta as a symbolic gesture of entering into Madrid. He was accompanied by Madrid’s primate and Archbishop Cardinal Antonio Ruoco Varela upon passing through the gate together with a dozen or more Young Pilgrims handpicked from different countries. At the entrance of the gate two young pilgrim presented him with soil and an olive tree on a pot which the Pope poured soil in it – again another symbolic gesture of the theme for the Madrid World Youth Day “Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith”. Walking through the pathway at the end of the Puerta de alcala rotund, Pope Benedict XVI was met by Young Spanish Equestrians and presented him with a gift. After the formalities, the Pope rode again his Popemobile to proceed at Plaza de Cibeles where a hundreds oif thousands of Pilgrims awaits him for the Welcoming ceremony.

Pope Benedict XVI with Spanish Children

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Pope Benedict XVI at the Puerta de Alcala

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