Town Hall and neighbours open the negotiation for the Sagrada Familia staircase

BarcelonaThe dance has begun. The Barcelona City Council and the residents of the Sagrada Família have formally opened negotiations to close one of the city's hottest urban planning fronts: the future of the Glòria staircase. According to various sources who spoke to ARA, the first official meeting was held last Thursday between the municipal government – led by Jordi Valls, the councilor for Eixample – and representatives of the Sagrada Família neighborhood association and the platform of those affected by the construction of the temple.

A week before Pope Leo XIV blesses the Jesus tower, the council and the residents met face-to-face to begin exploring the possibility of an agreement. There were no representatives from the Sagrada Família at the meeting, which has always advocated for bilateral negotiations with the City Council, with whom it has been reaching a preliminary agreement in recent months. In fact, last March Esteve Camps, the delegate president of the Sagrada Família Construction Board, stated that the pact with the council was "close."

At this point, the council is trying to square the circle by also achieving consensus with the residents. Despite the secrecy surrounding the content of the meeting, after the initial contact, both parties emphasize their willingness to reach an agreement. They admit, however, that it will not be easy. There are three main issues on the table: how many residents will ultimately be affected by the staircase; where they will be rehoused or how they will be compensated; and who will pay for an operation that, according to some estimates, could cost around 150 to 200 million euros, and how.

The task is not easy because the conflict has been going on for a long time. After years of the staircase appearing and disappearing from plans and documents, finally in 1976 the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM) formally recorded the impact on the two blocks in front of the temple – those between Mallorca, Aragó, Sardenya and Marina streets – to create a 60-meter-wide avenue. A promenade that would lead practically from Avinguda Diagonal to the entrance of the Glory facade, which would be accessed via a staircase that would pass over Mallorca street. This planning would involve the demolition of the houses on these two blocks.

Define the affected area

Defining the affected area is the first challenge. The latest proposals from the governments of Xavier Trias and Ada Colau reduced the width of the promenade from 60 to 40 meters to limit the impact on houses, but it is not clear whether Jaume Collboni's government project maintains this limitation. Once this part is defined, it will be necessary to know how many of the residents will accept financial compensation and how many need to be rehoused in an apartment in the same neighborhood.

It remains to be seen whether the Aigües plot, acquired in 2019 by the Sagrada Família – on the adjacent block, between Marina, Lepant, Mallorca, and València – has enough capacity to build a building that can house all the rehoused residents, or if, on the contrary, more plots are needed in the area. Ensuring that everyone who needs it has a housing solution has always been one of the residents' red lines for reaching an agreement.

Two years ago, the municipal government committed to resolving this issue within this term. On Thursday, the countdown of less than a year to achieve this began. But in the event that a proposal is agreed upon with the residents that is also accepted by the Sagrada Família, there would still be a long way to go. Beyond possible legal disputes, the agreement would require the approval of the City Council's plenary session in the future.