CANARY ISLANDS - Bakary Jaiju was 19 when he climbed into a wooden boat in the Gambia and set out for Europe. He would be at sea for seven frightening days as his supplies of food and water gradually ran out.
"You can't even sleep in case you fall in," he recalled, now in Tenerife after finally reaching the Canary Islands late last year in search of a "better life". "I decided to go, whether I survive or I die, because I want my family to be in a good condition," said Jaiju, explaining why he left his wife and baby behind and risked the treacherous waters of the Atlantic. In the few months since he reached this southernmost tip of Europe, hundreds of others have died trying.
It is their plight, and the dramatic stories of those who do make it, that Pope Leo will highlight during his visit to the Spanish islands which began in Gran Canaria on Thursday. The Pope's focus is a clear counterpoint to talk elsewhere of a migration "crisis" and an "ideological invasion". Data from the UNHCR show the number of migrant arrivals by sea to Spain has fallen significantly this year, partly due to increased interceptions off the West African coast funded by the EU. But many are still trying - and dying.
So Pope Leo will stress the need for alternative "safe and legal pathways" to Europe but also appeal for a humane approach and "respectful welcome" for those who pay smugglers and are then packed into the most basic of boats.
In Gran Canaria, he will drop flowers into the waves in memory of the migrants who never made it, including entire boatloads that disappeared without trace.
