On  March 20, 2026 , King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will pay an official visit to the Vatican. The highlight of the day will be the Spanish monarch’s investiture as  protocanon  of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, one of the four major basilicas of Rome.

The agenda will begin with a private audience granted by Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace. This will be the first formal meeting between the Pontiff—elected in 2025—and the Spanish head of state since his accession to the throne in 2014. Following this reception, the King and Queen will proceed to the basilica, where the investiture ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. The ceremony will be presided over by the archpriest of the basilica, Bishop Rolandas Makrickas, and will be attended by the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá.

This title is not new in the history of the Spanish monarchy: it is an exclusive privilege linked to the kings of Spain since the 17th century. It all began in 1647, when  Philip IV  instituted an annual donation for the upkeep of the basilica and to fund prayers for the royal family. In gratitude, Pope  Innocent X  granted the Spanish sovereigns the dignity of perpetual honorary protocanons.

The last monarch to formalize this distinction was  Juan Carlos I , who did so on February 10, 1977. Felipe VI, for his part, had postponed the act since his proclamation as king, and now he will carry it out eleven years later, thus consolidating the continuity of this tradition.

The Basilica of Saint Mary Major, also known as Santa María la Mayor, is one of the oldest and most venerated Marian shrines in the Christian world. According to the Lateran Treaties of 1929, it enjoys extraterritorial status. This designation underscores the deep historical, cultural, and spiritual ties that bind Spain to the Holy See, as well as the deeply rooted Marian devotion that has characterized Spanish religious identity throughout the centuries.