The Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona will be completed in two years (2026), he announced, according to the “Guardian”, the president of the organization tasked with completing Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece Esteve Camps. The year of completion of construction coincides with the centenary of the architect’s death of the building.
A The monument’s central tower will measure 172.5 meters, making the Sagrada Familia the tallest building in Barcelona. The work will be completed 144 years after the first stone was laid.
Although its completion is announced for 2026, there is work that could last until 2034. These are details in the sculptures, decorative details and in the staircase that could become the main entrance.
When work began in 1882, the site of the Sagrada Familia was agricultural land, with the city growing around the unfinished basilica. However, the construction of the basilica staircasewhich would extend over two large blocks of the city, would lead to the eviction of 1000 families and companies.
Esteve Camps, leader of the Sagrada Família Construction Board, insists that the staircase has always been part of the project. “We are following Gaudí’s plan to the letter,” he says. “We are his heirs and we cannot renounce his project. The plan presented to local authorities in 1915, signed by Gaudí, includes the staircase,” he highlighted.
The construction of the temple has been ensured with “donations and contributions from thousands of people”. According to the same newspaper, the Sagrada Família receives, annually, around five million tourists pay between 25 and 40 euros to visit the site. More than half of this amount goes towards completing the works. What happens to the remaining amount is “a mystery”, since the Church is not obliged to publish its accounts.
Since 1892, the construction of the Sagrada Família has been affected by several events — wars, negligence, lack of financing and even the pandemic. Before the money raised through religious tourism, the works were exclusively financed by donations from repentant sinners.
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