Sagrada Familia to Finally Be Completed After 140 Years: Top 5 Things You Need to Know About the Historic Milestone
- The basilica’s main central tower, the “Tower of Jesus Christ,” is set to be topped with a massive 65-foot cross in 2026, marking the official structural completion of a project begun in 1882—making it accessible via elevators and staircases for the first time.
- The completion comes after a final bureaucratic hurdle was cleared: the Barcelona city council granted the long-disputed building permit in 2024, a document originally required in 1885, with a payout of $5.6 million back to the city for their oversight lapse.
- While the exterior will be done by 2026, the interior sculptures and six remaining smaller towers will take another decade, meaning the entire plan, including the controversial glass and steel staircases, will extend into the 2030s.
- The “original” architect, Antoni Gaudí, left only 10-15% of his final design notation before his 1926 death, forcing modern architects to rely on his 1:10 plaster models—many destroyed in the 1936 Spanish Civil War—only recently reconstructed with 3D printing and historical photos.
- Completion will launch the sagrada familia into its next phase: a massive multi-million-dollar conservation program to combat the destructive effects of 5.2 million annual tourists, including a new climate-controlled system and restrictions on visitor numbers.