Three URV students volunteering at the press center for Pope Leo XIV
Three Audiovisual Communication students from URV played a key role managing accreditations at the International Press Center set up at the Fira de Barcelona during Pope Leo XIV's visit on June 9 and 10.
The scale of the event exceeded expectations, with over 3,300 accredited journalists and a communication setup costing more than two million euros from the Generalitat. The students from Tarragona experienced the major operation from the front line.
URV Volunteering at the international press center
Who the students are and what they did
Elia Farré, Emma Sánchez, and Frida Sans, all first-year Audiovisual Communication students, volunteered on the afternoon of June 9 at Pavilion 1 of the Fira de Barcelona. They welcomed and managed accreditations for communication professionals arriving at the center.
This public-facing and key organizational task put them in direct contact with journalists from around the world, from television to print, digital, and radio media, all under an infrastructure prepared for more than 3,300 media outlets.
The surprise of the facilities and logistics
Elia Farré recalls being impressed by the number of specialized spaces: areas for different types of formats, including a meeting room with a capacity for more than 400 people.
The center was organized to facilitate journalists’ work, with zones adapted for each professional profile and a very detailed logistical approach, enabling coverage of one of the largest media events recently held in Catalonia.
Pope Leo XIV's visit to the province of Tarragona and Barcelona
Itinerary and impact in Tarragona
The Pope arrived in Catalonia Tuesday at midday, starting a two-day agenda passing through Barcelona and surroundings such as Montjuïc, with the Olympic Stadium full with 40,000 faithful. Although most main events took place in Barcelona, the impact was also felt in the province of Tarragona, where URV has a significant presence and its students contributed to the coverage.
The visit included emblematic settings such as the Sagrada Familia, Montserrat, and the Brians I penitentiary center, which gathered thousands of attendees and required great media coordination.
The communication effort and public investment
The Generalitat invested more than two million euros to guarantee event coverage, demonstrating the scale of infrastructure needed to manage two thousand accredited professionals and, in total, more than 3,300 accredited journalists in Spain.
The Pope’s entourage included 80 professionals specialized in Vatican communication, another example of the operation’s scale in which URV was actively involved through its students.
The value of volunteering for students from Tarragona
Practical experience and professional development
This volunteering allowed the students to experience firsthand the complexity of a major international event, a luxury few first-year students can enjoy. Direct management of global professionals offers learning that no classroom can replicate.
The combination of technology, management, and personalized attention they experienced is an example illustrating the quality of the Audiovisual Communication degree at the Rovira i Virgili University.
URV as a player in global events from Tarragona
URV’s presence at an event of this magnitude puts Tarragona on the map in the field of international communication. Without major headlines, but with a direct role on the global media stage.
The three students represent the most human and local face of a gigantic infrastructure that had its nerve center in Barcelona but with connections reaching the province.
The reality is that great stories are also told from the front line, with an accreditation and a well-placed smile.
Article source: Rovira i Virgili University
