"We wanted the world to talk about the country's art": this is how 3Cat's broadcast of the blessing of the Sagrada Familia was conceived

Barcelona3Cat's broadcast of the consecration of the Jesus tower of the Sagrada Família this Wednesday left many viewers stunned. Who is behind this television spectacle more akin to cinema? The realization of the event was handled by Paulí Subirà, who has a very long professional career in this field. Subirà already directed the television coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Sagrada Família in 2010 and has also been in charge of programs such as La nit al dia, FAQS and the electoral specials, among many other productions.

Igor Cortadellas also worked on the broadcast team, a specialist in the fusion of music, image, and technology, who was in charge of creative direction. Domènec Gibert took on the cinematography and Eva Parra, the color. For the broadcast, 3Cat used the Cinema Live system, a technology that had never been seen before in Europe in a live television broadcast. To implement it, 3Cat allied with international partners such as Fuji and Sony, among others.

Although the broadcast was unanimously acclaimed, it wasn't exactly as the team imagined it, as twenty seconds before it started it was found that A big change 20 seconds before starting

Although the broadcast was unanimously acclaimed, it wasn't exactly as the team had imagined it, since twenty seconds before it began, it was found that the temple's security device did not allow 600 members of different choirs who were to participate in the show to enter. "We had planned and rehearsed for the choirs to fill side by side the horseshoe where the choirboys were. There were to be 600 people singing from all the choirs of Catalonia, each with a candle. Twenty seconds before going out, Igor called me and told me they weren't allowed down and they couldn't go out. At that moment, you have to rethink everything. It was a complicated and tense moment, but those of us who do live television normally have the ability to make quick decisions," says Subirà.

Technically, the broadcast was made using Cinema Live technology, to go one step further than a simple television broadcast. "Technologically, it has been a milestone, TV3 has once again positioned itself as a television that has the capacity to do new things," affirms the director. Some parts of the show, such as the moment when the orchestra appeared playing, were pre-recorded. In this regard, Subirà explains that they followed the same strategy that was followed, for example, at Bad Bunny's Super Bowl. "There are things that are impossible to do live, unless you spend a year preparing them. What you do is help yourself [with recordings] so that it fits perfectly with the music and the narrative. The trick is to do Cinema Live and have everything have the same tone," he adds.

The live broadcast of the show, ten minutes long, had about twenty cameras and was presented by Toni Cruanyes, Xavier Grasset, and Núria Moliner. The complete coverage of the event included the offering at Gaudí's tomb, the solemn mass, the papal blessing of the tower, and a light and drone show. The cross of the tower was illuminated for the first time and, during the blessing, Pope Leo XIV described the temple as a "catechesis of stones, colors, and light" which, according to him, is proof that "art and beauty are eminent channels of evangelization".

The special, titled The Tower of Heaven, was the most watched program on Wednesday. The broadcast that TV3 made between 9:40 PM and 10:10 PM, the moment of the illumination and the light and drone show, achieved a 26.2% audience share and 545,000 viewers. The preview to this moment – that is, the broadcast between 7:30 PM and 9:34 PM – also achieved great audience figures: a 22.4% share and 328,000 viewers.