From wine bottles to kitchen cloths: the Pope's souvenirs burst into the Sagrada Familia

BarcelonaA bottle of red wine with a label of dubious origin. This one, with the Pope's name stamped in large letters to attract the attention of tourists who want to take home a presumably local product with the pontiff's face. All for 28.99. If the wine doesn't grab your attention, there are many other souvenirs to buy for the visit of Leo XIV to Barcelona that are starting to appear in the souvenir shops around the Sagrada Familia. It will be at the temple where the Pope is scheduled to celebrate a mass on June 10th.

With only a few days to go, however, it seems that neither tourists, shopkeepers, nor neighbors are living with great expectation the great event that the Catalan capital has with the Pope

major event that the Catalan capital has with the Pope

"We haven't noticed people coming specifically to look for it," he explains, and assures that they don't expect big sales next Wednesday either, as the streets will be blocked and the area restricted: "What we want most is to be able to get to work," he assures.

The most common items on the shelves are rosaries, bags, and mugs, gifts that cost around 15 euros and are repeated in all the shops in the area. The magnets of Leo XIV are the most abundant, with the pontiff and the Sagrada Família in the background, and a t-shirt in a pop style hung at the entrance of the shops or a small figurine kept in a metal case also surprises. Through the streets of the basilica, regular groups of tourists fill the sidewalks, but they are more focused on photographs of the monument or small souvenirs from Gaudí's temple.

Alex Castillo, manager of Emporio Souvenirs, has not noticed any interest from tourists visiting his shop on Mallorca street, and hopes sales will increase once the big day has passed. An event that "rather than benefit, harms," he says. He explains that on the 10th he will not come to work, as he lives outside the city and traffic limitations will make it very difficult for him to access his workplace. However, he will open the shop, although he does not expect to sell anything: "I don't think the police or the press will come to buy."

The sellers, in the dark

Apart from the preliminary preparations, the shopkeepers assure that they are experiencing the pontiff's visit to the Sagrada Família blindly: "Nobody has warned us or told us anything," explains Castillo. In the area, containers and objects from the public highway that could obstruct passage, as well as terraces, will be removed. Other souvenir shop vendors agree and criticize that they are unclear about the protocol for that day, or if they will be able to go to work.

Sílvia, who runs a small stall on Provença street, also sells keychains with the pontiff's face stamped on them and makes small wooden heart-shaped boxes, some with rosaries inside and Leo XIV on the cover. She is from Calafell and explains that she also knows nothing: she is clear that on Wednesday she will not be able to set up her stall, but she does not know if she will be able to do so on Tuesday or if she will be able to access it with her car: "If they don't tell us anything, we'll come, and if we can't get there, we'll have to go home".

Most agree that the last papal visit, in 2010 with Benedict XVI, was very different. "Many more people came, everything wasn't so cut off," assures Juani Vega. That occasion coincided with a Sunday, which allowed interested parties to get close to the church in a city much less blocked to passage than this year.

Expectant tourists

Although the anticipation is not yet palpable, some tourists, like Erica Oliveros, are staunch followers of the Pope. She is originally from Peru, although she lives in Las Vegas, and is in Barcelona on a religious tourism trip with her family. She explains that she will go to Madrid this weekend to try to see the pontiff in Cibeles and then return to Barcelona to coincide with him: "I am Catholic and we have been looking for a place to see the Pope for a long time, we have tried to coordinate the dates to achieve it," she explains.

Marta Valdés, a Mexican tourist who has already been to the Sagrada Família a few times, regrets not being able to coincide with the Pope, as she has just found out about the event and is leaving two days before he arrives, but she will buy something to remember the trip: "It gladdens my heart to know that we will be so close to him".

Others, like Carles, a retiree and resident of Arenys de Mar, were already aware of it, but will not buy anything: "I don't consider it necessary," he says. However, he will watch it on television and hopes that the level of viewership will be similar to 2010, when he did attend and the city received, as it will in a few days, the Holy Father and all that entails.