The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the famous church by architect Antonio Gaudi, opens its doors again to the public on Saturday, May 29. Visits are possible on Saturday and Sunday, from 9am to 3pm.
Online ticket sales for a visit to the Sagrada Familia start on Friday 21 May, from 12.00 pm, at www.sagradafamilia.org. Initially, visiting hours are only Saturdays and Sundays, 9am to 3pm. The course of the pandemic will determine any changes in the restrictions and measures.
Consequences of the pandemic
The Sagrada Familia closed between April and July 2020, reopened between July and October and had to close again in October.
The church is still under construction and, according to Spanish media, the completion of the Sagrada Familia has been seriously delayed by the corona pandemic. According to earlier planning, the construction started in 1882 would be completed in 2026, one hundred years after Gaudí fell under a tram and died. This no longer seems feasible, but a new date has not yet been set.
The pandemic also has consequences for further financing. The basilica is dependent on donations and ticket sales from visitors, which are only trickling in sporadically. In 2019, €100million was spent on the construction of the Sagrada Familia; in 2020 it was €17million.
Ambition
The plans are still ambitious. The main tower – la torre de Jesús- will be the highest church tower in the world at 172.50 metres. The crowning glory will be a twelve-pointed star on the second-highest tower – la torre de Maria. Made of steel and glass elements the star can be illuminated in the dark. The project team installed a steel structure for this purpose last April. If work continues at the planned pace, the Maria Tower will be completed in the course of December, with the giant star attached.
