Pope Benedict XVI has landed in the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela at the start of a two-day visit to Spain.

Pope Benedict XVI has criticized what he calls an “aggressive” anti—church sentiment that he says is flourishing in Spain.

The pope arrived on Saturday on a two—day visit to rekindle the faith in a key Western nation.

Pope Benedict said the anti—clericalism being felt today in Spain harks back to the 1930’s, when the church suffered a wave of violence and ill feeling as Spain lurched from an unstable democracy to civil war.

Speaking on Saturday to journalists en route to Santiago di Compostela, he said he had created a new Vatican office to fight such secular trends worldwide. He said Spain was a particular focus since it had played such an important role in reviving Christianity in centuries past.