Overview

• A local resident alerted Mayor José Manuel Igual last week after tracing the Pope’s lineage back to Isla around 1573.
• The Ayuntamiento de Arnuero has commissioned historians to examine 16th-century parish records for evidence that León XIV’s ancestors were hidalgos in the village.
• Officials are drafting an invitation for Pope León XIV to undertake a private or public visit to Isla if his Spanish roots are confirmed.
• Since news of the potential ancestry broke, the town hall has fielded a surge of emails and visits from residents and tourists expressing excitement.
• Isla, known for its beaches, has about 620 registered residents within Arnuero’s roughly 2,400-strong coastal population.