It's no long before World Youth Day kicks off in the capital of Spain where preparations are underway to welcome the pope and more than one million young people from around the world for World Youth Day 2011. Watch this video to preview some of the features and the official sites that you will see in Madrid.

This is the home of the Machuca-Bárcena family. They live in Tres Cantos area just north of Madrid. Along with hundreds of other families, they've decided to welcome young people into their home, where they'll stay for World Youth Day.

The pilgrimage walk to location of the WYD Final Mass is a great World Youth Day tradition. For WYD2011 in Madrid, the final Mass will take place at the Cuatro Vientos Air Field. If you will be taking part, then take a look at this video, which gives you some of the basics about the walking route that pilgrims will follow to get from downtown Madrid to Cuatro Vientos for the prayer vigil and closing Mass with Pope Benedict XVI!

In light of the Pope's upcoming to trip to Spain for World Youth Day this August, the Vatican has released new figures on the number of Catholics living there. Spain has a population close to 46 million people and the Vatican estimates that 42 and a half million, or 92.2%, is Catholic.

The World Youth Day cross has arrived in Madrid! For two years it was taken to 70 dioceses around Spain. Now it's back home in the Almudena Cathedral, where it stands next to the icon of the Virgin Mary. The cross became the official symbol of World Youth Day, after Pope John Paul II gave it to a group of youths back in 1984. Watch this video for more.

World Youth Day starts next August 16th in Spain. For those who won't be able to make it, a few items are already up for sale on the web. At Madrid 2011 official website, one can find folding chairs, canteens and even cologne designed specifically for the event, as well as the official backpack!

Young people from around the world are preparing for the trip of a lifetime - see you in Madrid!

The Official World Youth Day 2011 Choir and Orchestra had its début June 1, 2011 at the National Auditorium in Madrid, Spain. Watch this short clip for a taste of what you will see and hear in Madrid!

Here is the first edition of the Madrid11 News, broadcasting from the World Youth Day office in Madrid. Watch this video for the latest updates - including the news that the Pope Benedict XVI will be hearing confessions during WYD11!

……

The Pope is on a mission to promote confession and spiritual direction. He will do this through a very expressive gesture: this August, he will sit in a confessional during World Youth Day in Madrid. A handful of young people will be able to make their confession with the Pope!

……