AS POPE BENEDICT XVI travelled through the city of Barcelona on Sunday he was greeted by the familiar sight of crowds lining the streets.

What he might not have expected, however, was that some of those coming to greet him were part of a gay ‘flashmob’ who had come to protest against his visit in a novel way: kissing.

Benedict has directly criticised the Spanish state in recent months because of new laws that permit gay marriage, speed-up divorce and make it easier to seek abortions. The pope has complained about what he views as an “aggressive secularism” sweeping across Europe.

On Sunday, about 200 gay men and women, brought together by a Facebook group called Queer Kissing Flashmob, kissed one another as Benedict drove by in his popemobile.

While Benedict made no sign that he had seen the ‘kiss-in’, he did address the subject of homosexuality in mass, saying:

The generous and indissoluble love of a man and a woman is the effective context and foundation of human life in its gestation, birth, growth and natural end.

Marylene Carole, one of the organisers, told the Spanish news agency EFE.

When Benedict XVI passes in front of us we will kiss, man-to-man and woman-to-woman… It is strange that such a noble act as kissing can still be considered revolutionary today, in the 21st century. This is a battle for sexual and affective rights, based on passion rather than violence.

Spain is a traditionally Catholic country, however in recent years fewer people are identifying themselves as religious. Last year, civil weddings outnumbered church weddings for the first time ever in the country.