The Sagrada Família opens the door to building the staircase by demolishing a single building

BarcelonaA plot twist in one of the most complex negotiations that the city of Barcelona has had open for decades. The Sagrada Família Construction Board opened the door this Tuesday for the first time to being able to build the staircase by demolishing only one building: the Núñez i Navarro one on Mallorca Street. In a press conference, the general director of the Construction Board, Xavier Martínez, assured that to finish the Sagrada Família project, it would only be necessary to demolish this building and move its residents to a new building that would be erected on a plot that the temple acquired years ago on the street next door.

Temple sources admit that this is a "minimalist" solution and are now passing the ball to the Barcelona City Council, which is the one that has the final say on the project's impact. The dilemma for the council is whether to opt for a solution that would greatly limit the affected residents who would have to be relocated or compensated, or if it goes a little further to prevent the square in front of the staircase from becoming a dead-end trapped between the buildings of the Passatge de la Font on one side and València street on the other.

In 1976, the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM) formally included the impact on the two blocks in front of the temple – those located between Mallorca, Aragó, Sardenya, and Marina streets – to create an avenue 60 meters wide. A walkway that would lead practically from Avinguda Diagonal to the door of the Glory façade, which would be accessed through a staircase that would pass over Mallorca Street.

For months, the City Council has been holding two-way talks with the residents and the temple to try to close a pact that has been resisted for years. Just before the summer —coinciding with the Pope's visit— all parties were optimistic about reaching an agreement that would satisfy everyone and that, as El País explained, foresaw an impact that went beyond the Núñez i Navarro building. In recent weeks, however, the residents have reported that, for reasons they do not know, the agreement has collapsed.

Hence the surprise generated by Martínez's words, assuming an impact much smaller than what had always been negotiated with the different municipal governments. The director general of the construction board admitted that the talks were very advanced but assured that for now they have no response from the City Council nor a calendar of when they might have one. "There is an agreement in principle, but we are waiting for the City Council to make a move," he stressed. "What we have to build is a staircase that at this moment is impossible to construct because there is a building. To finish the Sagrada Família, this building cannot be there," he said.

This apartment block by Núñez i Navarro was built in extremis before the approval of the 1976 General Metropolitan Plan (PGM). Thanks to a report from the Historical and Artistic Heritage commission of the Ministry of Education and Science, it was able to be erected just one year before the planning designated that land as a green zone in anticipation of the staircase. A building just twenty meters from the Glory façade that became, since that controversial process, a symbol of the serial regarding the staircase.

No news on who will make the sculptures for the Glory façade

Regarding the schedule, Martínez has maintained the horizon of being able to have the Glory facade finished within a decade, although he has admitted that it was more "a wish than a reality." For the moment, the lead architect of the works, Jordi Faulí, has explained that with the building permit they currently have, they can indeed raise the four towers of the Glory facade. As he detailed, construction is now beginning on the bifurcated columns that will have to support the four towers, which are scheduled to begin rising next year.

There is still no news regarding who will create the sculptural ensemble for the Glory facade. As Faulí explained, the board has not yet made any decision regarding the proposals presented by Miquel Barceló, Javier Marín, and Cristina Iglesias. "It is an important decision, and I think it is logical or important that the necessary time be dedicated to it," he remarked. As he did in March, the architect has left the door open to the possibility that the work will ultimately be done by a single sculptor, more than one, or none of them.

The temple's construction board took advantage of the press conference to take stock of what the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death has meant for the Sagrada Família. The general director, Xavier Martínez, highlighted the impact that the visit of Pope Francis for the inauguration of the tower of Jesus has had around the world. According to him, just between January 1st and June 30th of this year, 41,000 news stories about the temple have been published, 31,000 of which were in foreign media. Martínez also remarked, however, that the commemoration has strengthened the bond with the people of Barcelona, the citizens of the rest of the country, and also of the State. As he said, for the first time in many years, the most numerous visitors to the temple are those born in the State, ahead of those from the United States.