Crossword Genius

Leader in Rome close to Spanish Pope (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hadrian

'leader in rome' is the definition.
(Hadrian was a Roman emperor)

'close to spanish pope' is the wordplay.
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close/ending of).
'pope' becomes 'Adrian' (Pope Adrian).
The last letter of 'spanish' is 'h'.
'h'+'adrian'='HADRIAN'

(Other definitions for hadrian that I've seen before include "Imperial wall-builder" , "Wall-building Roman emperor" , "His wall crosses northern Britain" , "Roman Emperor after Trajan" , "Roman emperor who built the British wall" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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