Plus de 150 000 visiteurs se préparent à accueillir le pape Léon à Lourdestraduit

LOURDES, France — As Pope Leo XIV lands in Paris to begin the first official papal visit to France since 2008, pilgrims, organizers, and business owners in Lourdes are preparing for his arrival in the town expected on Saturday night.

Patrick Vinuales, owner of Hôtels Vinuales — the largest hotel chain in Lourdes — told EWTN News: “The average number of people who would be staying in Lourdes is roughly 20,000. But for the Sunday Mass, there will be something like 150,000 people. We expect altogether an attendance of nearly a quarter of a million people over the weekend.”

“What I think is very important is the enthusiasm of people. A lot of people have been calling us saying even if they couldnʼt come, they were so happy for the pope to come to Lourdes, to reveal more about the message of Our Lady to Bernadette,” he told EWTN News.

Le tourisme est une grosse affaire à Lourdes. The town is widely considered to be the area with the highest concentration of hotels in France outside of Paris — rather unusual for a town with a population of 10,000. Les hôteliers profitent au maximum de l’augmentation du nombre de visiteurs.

Joseph Tedesco, propriétaire du Grand Hôtel Moderne, construit en 1896 par le…