Pope addresses conference on families

VALENCIA, Spain, July 8 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI called the family "a unique institution in God's plan" as he gave the closing address Saturday at a Vatican conference in Spain.

The brief trip to Valencia is Benedict's first visit to Spain as pope. The country is overwhelmingly Catholic, but few people are regular churchgoers, and Spain recently legalized gay marriage.

In his speech, the pope said that the Catholic church must uphold traditional families.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia greeted the pope on his arrival at the airport. He stopped to pray at the site of a subway crash that left 42 people dead on Monday.

Thousands of people lined the city streets as Benedict drove by in a "popemobile," the glass-enclosed vehicle pioneered by his predecessor, John Paul II.