SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict warned Europe on Saturday against allowing materialism to obscure its spiritual heritage, as be began a lightning trip to highly secularised Spain, and took an indirect swipe at the country's liberal abortion law.
Spain’s Roman Catholic Church, whose image was stained by its close relationship with Francisco Franco during his 36-year dictatorship, has clashed with the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero over gay rights and abortion.
"I too wish to encourage Spain and Europe to build their present and to project their future on the basis of the authentic truth about man," said the pope, starting his 32-hour trip in this northwestern Galician city.
Benedict, on his second trip to Spain since his election in 2006, was greeted by Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia as he arrived in a foggy Santiago de Compostela, which has been a major pilgrimage destination since medieval times.
The pope said freedom had to be based on "justice for all, beginning with the poorest and the most defenceless", a clear reference to abortion.
Abortion, illegal under Franco who died in 1975, was legalised in limited circumstances in 1985 but this year Zapatero’s government allowed it on demand during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. Minors can abort with one parent’s consent.
One of the main themes of Benedict’s papacy has been what the Church calls the "re-evangelisation" of Europe, an attempt to urge people to return to their religious roots despite living in highly secularised societies.
He said Europe should be "concerned not only with people’s material needs but also with their moral and social, spiritual and religious needs, since all these are genuine requirements of our common humanity ….".
Of Spain’s 46 million people, 76 percent consider themselves Catholic but only 15 percent of those say they regularly attend church, according to a poll by the Sociological Research Center.
BATTLE OVER GAY RIGHTS
One of the biggest battles between the Spanish government and the church has been over gay rights.
Spain became in 2005 the third country in the world to legalise gay marriage. The law, promoted by Zapatero despite fierce opposition from the church, allows married gay couples to adopt children, something which is anathema to the Vatican.
Gays and lesbians are planning a large "kiss-in" demonstration against the visit in Barcelona, to where the pope will fly on Saturday night for the second leg of his visit.
But with Spain struggling to emerge from a prolonged recession and 20 percent unemployment, protests against the pope have concentrated not only on religious and social issues, but also on the millions of euros spent on security and logistics.
"I think it’s bad, I mean really bad, to spend so much money on a guy who comes, gives a speech, stays an hour and leaves," said Pedro Barral Gonzalez, 18, in Santiago de Compostela.
In Barcelona, the pope will consecrate the Catalan city’s iconic Sagrada Familia church 128 years after construction began. The church was designed by legendary architect Antoni Gaudi, whose sculptural masterpieces dot Catalonia.
From the airport in Santiago, Benedict was driven in a bulletproof "popemobile" past thousands of people waving yellow-and-white Vatican flags to the city’s mediaeval centre for a visit to the city’s Romanesque 12th century cathedral, believed to be the burial place of the St James the Apostle.
