The Sagrada Familia now embraces Barcelona

Guillermo Simón Castellví

Guillermo Simón Castellví, a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia, of the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology, and of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Societies, as well as a collaborator of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (READ), shares with the academic community the photo gallery he published in the digital newspaper El Debate on January 14, documenting the completion of the installation of the four arms of the great cross that will crown the Tower of Jesus Christ of the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The structure will reach a height of 172.5 metres and is expected to be completed during 2026, thus bringing to an end—after more than a century—the construction of the temple.

As journalist Guillermo Altarriba explains in the report accompanying the images, only the final arm—the upper one—remains to be installed, which will also reach a height of 172.5 metres. For now, with the fourth lateral arm in place, the unfinished cross already points to the four cardinal directions and symbolically embraces the city of Barcelona and the entire world, as Antoni Gaudí himself envisioned when designing the temple’s main tower. “The lower end of the cross was installed last October 30, followed by the central core, which connects the six arms of this ‘cosmic cross,’ a structure typical of Gaudí that can be found in many of his other works, such as Casa Batlló, Park Güell, or Torre Bellesguard,” the report notes.

According to the schedule set by the Sagrada Familia Construction Board—whose Board of Trustees includes Juan Trias de Bes, director of the hARQware Platform Chair at the School of Architecture of the International University of Catalonia and a full member of the READ—the goal is to complete the cross by March at the latest. It should be recalled that the structure will be hollow, as Gaudí intended, and accessible to pilgrims and visitors. Inside, there will be a sculpture of the Agnus Dei by Italian artist Andrea Mastrovito. “The basilica, which can already boast of being the tallest building in Barcelona and the tallest church in the world, thus reaches a new milestone at the beginning of what is set to be its most important year since at least 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Barcelona and consecrated the Sagrada Familia as a minor basilica, opening it to regular worship,” Altarriba explains.

Although it has not yet been officially confirmed by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV is expected to visit Barcelona—along with Madrid and the Canary Islands—next summer, on a date close to the centenary of Gaudí’s death on June 10, as announced by the Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo. In this case, El Debate explains, the central event of the visit to the Catalan capital would be the blessing of the central tower. “If it materializes, it would be Leo XIV’s first official trip to Spain and the ninth visit by a pontiff to our country,” the journalist concludes.