Ben Pawlowski
BARCELONA’S iconic Sagrada Familia has finally been given a completion date – over 100 years since its master architect died.
Antoni Gaudi’s spectacular gothic basilica, which looms high over Spain’s second largest city, will be completed by 2026 according to builders.
Work on the structure first began in 1882, with the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s construction dogged by wars, fire, a lack of funds and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic.
Esteve Camps, the president of the company building the Sagrada Familia, claims to have sufficient funds and materials to complete the project, including the 172.5 metre central tower.
However, work on sculptures and further intricate details could continue until 2034, as well as a stairway leading up to the main entrance which has sparked controversy after it emerged that over 1,000 families and businesses would need to be dislodged.
Camps said: “We are following Gaudi’s plan to the letter. We are his heirs and we can’t renounce the project. The plan presented to the local authority in 1915, which was signed by Gaudi, includes the stairway”.
The Sagrada Familia is Barcelona’s most popular tourist attraction, with close to 5 million annual visitors cumulatively spending over €125m.
Yet it has not always been popular with everyone – George Orwell once described it as ‘one of the most hideous buildings in the world’ and lamented that a fire set off by anarchists in 1936 had failed to completely destroy the monument.
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