The story of the olive tree planted by U2's Bono in the Alhambra that's reached the Vatican

Towards the end of September 2018 hundreds of people were enjoying the Alhambra in Granada when someone noticed that one of the visitors was in fact U2's frontman Bono. He was accompanied by the then director of the Patronato de la Alhambra, Reynaldo Fernández.

Bono was also with his daughter Jordan Joy Hewson, a lover of Andalusian culture who had previously visited the Granada monument a few months beforehand. Enchanted by the palace, she decided to go back, this time with her father. The singer was also smitten and he posted a photo taken in the Albaicín while reading a text from Federico García Lorca's 'Ballad of the Moon Moon'.

Bono even took advantage of the acoustics in the Palacio de Carlos V to sing a cappella, according to witnesses who were there at the time. There were few details of his visit to the Alhambra as the Patronato used its usual discretion when a celebrity visits and did not offer any details. In fact, the visit was only confirmed by Bono himself via his social media.

It was later revealed that as well as visiting the Alhambra and singing in Carlos V palace, Bono also planted an olive tree. The tree is now in the news again, as the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, took a branch of the olive tree to the Pope on Thursday 21 March, when he was received at the Vatican.

The olive branch is one of several gifts that the Andalusian president took to the Pope. It was chosen as a symbol of peace and understanding between different cultures and religions.