The last few months have been hectic at the Sagrada Familia. On February 20, Gaudí's temple reached its peak with the placement of the upper arm of the cross of the tower of Jesus. A cross that was visible weeks later, when the coverings were removed and which was fully completed less than a month ago, with the installation of the gauge that decorates the structure with six red lights to make it visible for air traffic. But while everyone was watching the movement of cranes and scaffolding, in one of the basilica's towers there were other novelties: the pair of peregrine falcons, which for two decades have been the only inhabitants of the Sagrada Familia, saw two chicks being born.

In the end, tonight, Donald Trump has not ended with “an entire civilization”, because Iran and the United States have given themselves another fifteen days. Trump has found a temporary way out of this war without a clear objective and Iran has resisted and put its conditions on the table. Everyone has lost, in fact, we have all lost, but Trump and the ayatollahs will say they have won. The one who continues to go their own way is Israel, which has already said it does not feel concerned by this two-week ceasefire and will continue to attack southern Lebanon. In any case, this morning we have reasons to breathe a little relieved. And if you want to add a point of reflection, do not miss this article by philosophy professor Ferran Sáez Mateu, titled “Trump: how did we get here?”, in which he explains why people vote for him. “Many voters make a decision based on who they believe they are or what subjective threats they perceive”. Closer, three interesting posts, today. The first: the Spanish Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has not dared to temporarily move Picasso's Guernica to the Basque Country, as the government of Vitoria had requested.Urtasun clings to the technicians' report which says that with the transfer, the painting could be damaged. The most progressive government in history will not take the symbolic step of exhibiting Guernica in the Basque Country. The reason interests us quite a bit: the work could be damaged. Like the frescoes of Sixena, right?Two: the Spanish government wants to change the Constitution to protect the right to abortion. They did it in France, because the extreme right, when it governs, rolls it back, and because in Spain, most abortions are not performed in public healthcare (in Catalonia, yes), but in private ones. The Spanish government will not achieve it, because to change the Constitution, a majority of ⅗ parts is needed, meaning the PP's votes are required, and the PP will not give them the votes. Why is the PSOE doing it? With the real argument of protecting rights, it forces the PP to say no and alienate itself from the female vote and align itself with VOX, with whom, moreover, they are agreeing on regional governments in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León. And the elections in Andalusia are coming.And the third, and very symbolic: yesterday, the Spanish Episcopal Conference presented some details of the visit of Pope Leo XIV, in just two months. The theme of the trip will be “Lift your eyes”, which is exactly what Leo XIV himself will do in Barcelona when he goes out onto Sardenya street to bless from below the cross that has recently culminated the Sagrada Familia.Without the Sagrada Família, the Pope would not have moved from Rome, but if he came, he had to pass through Madrid (no need to explain why) and take the opportunity to make a trip that his predecessor Pope Francis would have liked to make, which is to go to the Canary Islands, a point of arrival for which thousands of Africans risk their lives trying to enter the European Union. No sooner said than done, here is the logo, of a kitsch and outdated design as has not been seen for a long time, in which the Sagrada Família appears in the middle, the Puerta de Alcalá on the left and the sea (which represents the Canary Islands, which surrounds it). And now for the best part. When presenting the trip, the Episcopal Conference says that, in this act of looking up, one finds “the recognition of God as a source of unity (Madrid), beauty (Barcelona), and charity (the Canary Islands)”.Given that you are chosen for some concept, it is fine that Barcelona is associated with beauty, but don't tell me it's not sensational that the recognition of God as a source of unity is Madrid. Madrid, destination unit in the spiritual, too. It is clear that this trip will not escape the same national tension that was already experienced in 1982 with the visit of John Paul II and in 2010 with that of Benedict XVI.Good morning.

The accident in which Antoni Gaudí was struck by a tram on June 7, 1926, at the intersection of Bailèn and Gran Via streets, is well-known and forms part of the popular myth surrounding the brilliant architect, as does the fact that those who initially came to his aid thought he was a beggar. His simplicity and austerity were thus reinforced. Three days later, Gaudí died at the Hospital de la Santa Creu, the hospital for the poor, where he had been taken because of his appearance and where he chose to remain. So far, so well known.

How many old photo albums lying around houses hold pictures taken on rooftops? Grandparents or parents would climb up there with those cameras that had limited technology (they were called "portrait machines"), searching for the light that was lacking in the apartment so the photo wouldn't come out dark, and a simple background that the street couldn't provide. I suppose they must have looked for their own horizon reference point in each location. In Barcelona, ​​it was clear: the Sagrada Família, with those first four bare towers of the Nativity façade on Sardenya Street, which were the image of the city for almost forty years. The image was so fixed that for many Barcelonans, those four spires were enough.

Antoni Gaudí dedicated himself exclusively to the Sagrada Família for the last twelve years of his life. By then, he had already established himself as a brilliant architect, and the Sagrada Família is, moreover, an exceptional building. However, Gaudí liked to know what the humblest people thought of his work. When he finished the Bernabé Tower, Gaudí asked the clockmaker who wound the temple's clocks what he thought of it. When the man replied that it was "incredible," Gaudí was overjoyed and spent the entire day repeating to everyone that the man had said the tower was wonderful. This was explained by Jordi Faulí, the architect in charge and coordinator of the temple's construction, and Chiara Curti, an architect and Gaudí scholar, who this Sunday led the commemoration of the centenary of the inauguration of the Bernabé Tower, the only one Gaudí saw completed. “What Gaudí did was teach us a method, that is, to build in complete parts, to awaken people’s capacity for wonder,” Curti explains. “In the Sagrada Familia, Gaudí began with the small chapel in the crypt and then finished the crypt. He continued with the apse, and when that was finished, he built another one.” The Tower of Barnabas is the easternmost, and it is no coincidence that it was the first one he finished. “Saint Barnabas is the last of the apostles. In fact, he didn’t even know Jesus, and, in a way, he is the most like us, because we too believe without having known. This gesture meant highlighting the contemporaneity of this apostle.”

The Sagrada Família is finalizing the work to complete what will be the icing on the cake of the events commemorating the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death. Although it won't be open to visitors until later, the viewing cross that will crown the Sagrada Família's tallest tower will be ready in June 2026, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of the architect who designed the basilica. This figure, 17 meters high, 13.5 meters wide, and weighing 100 tons, will bring the tower of Jesus Christ to a height of 172.5 meters (it currently measures about 155 meters) and make the Sagrada Família the tallest religious building in Europe. It will be one of the milestones of a temple that still faces, however, the challenge of the staircase. An issue that the construction board acknowledged this Thursday will end up in court.

At the beginning of May, the world premiere of Symphony of the Sagrada Familia, a piece in three movements by Richard Blackford (London, 1954), which is inspired by the forms and spirituality conveyed by Gaudí's temple and, specifically, by its three façades: Nativity, Passion, and Glory. Blackford, who lives between Mallorca and the British capital, has a very long career that took a sudden turn in 2014: he consolidated the career of a contemporary composer who you only have to listen to to realize that he is and sounds, also, like a classic. The proof, in addition to the Gaudí symphony, which is accompanied by a film ad hoc, could be Pietan either Voices of Exile, a composition that resonates especially these days, for sadly obvious reasons.