Vast crowds greet pope in Spain

Yellow and white lollipops. Yellow and white ice cream. It’s a papal party!

The Mediterranean port of Valencia became a veritable sea of yellow and white as hundreds of thousands of Catholics – family groups, couples, nuns and priests - donned the colours of the Vatican and took up nearly every square inch of the city centre to witness the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

With the focus on family values, they came from all over Spain but also from distant corners of the world in search of a message of support from the pontiff.

“We Catholics needed this visit,” said 25-year-old Eliana Ramos, from Mendoza, Argentina. “The world is in moral decline, especially among young people. There are no young people in the churches anymore. Hopefully, this visit will bring people back to God.”

On a personal level, Ramos explained she had had three miscarriages but still wanted children.

“We’re still fighting. Hopefully God will look down on us and help!”

The pope came to Valencia to wrap up a nine-day church congress on family issues.

Throughout the city, massive groups of people of all ages trooped about chanting slogans in favour of the pope. Most were wearing the distinctive yellow and white backpacks issued to registered pilgrims on arrival.

Crowds packed the squares and park areas, squeezing together to share any spare spot of shade to shelter from a punishing sun and stifling humidity.

Priests and nuns joined groups of youths sitting on the sidewalks tucking into takeaways and drinking refreshments.

Huge queues stretched around the city’s ice cream and fruit juice stalls.

Much on the demand at one stall in Plaza de la Reina, just yards away from the cathedral, was flavour of the week, ’Crema Benedict XVI’, a mixture of cream and lemon, which went down a treat in the 35-degree Celsius heat, but then lay heavy on the stomach.

Down at the parkland area where the pope was to address pilgrims from a specially built altar later in the day, people camped out with mattresses and tents listening to a blend of soft jazz interspersed with sacral music beating from the banks of speakers set up at nearly every corner.

Adrian Glenewickel, a 25-year-old Polish immigrant said he had come to Valencia to see both the pope and Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

When asked if he knew that Zapatero was not exactly considered a great friend of Catholics, he said: “Yes, but he is good for immigrants and he wants peace with the Basques,” referring to the Socialist government’s relatively liberal immigrant policies and its moves to negotiate an end to the violent campaign of the Basque independence group ETA.