Work on the temple has now been fully regularised. In 1885 an application for a permit was made to the Sant Martí de Provençals Municipal Council but was never resolved until today, more than 130 years later.

The agreement is the result of collaboration between both institutions and involved drafting and approving a modification to the Metropolitan General Plan and putting together a comprehensive special urban plan to regularise the work.

How much has the Sagrada Família paid?

The Construction Board has paid 4.6 million euros, which corresponds to the tax on constructions, installations and building work (4.3 million) and the fee for the building permit, which is over 240,000 euros.

In parallel with the building permit, the City Council has also processed activity licences for the temple. The building’s main usage is as a visitable place of worship, open to the public outside of prayer times and also including a museum section, giving it a cultural and religious use.

The licence also includes uses relating to the functioning and the administration of the building, such as the vestry, the offices and the maintenance workshops. At the same time, it establishes a complementary commercial use, located in the underground floor and restricted to items linked to the temple.

What does the permit include?

The permit anticipates a large renovation with an increase in volume and the execution of building work at the temple, which consists of the main building, various towers of different heights and two underground floors.

The maximum building elevation for the site is 53,000 square metres, with a built surface area of a little over 41,000 square metres above ground. The licence also describes the construction of the temple in stages, setting out an overall execution time which ends in the year 2026.

How will the city benefit?

The Sagrada Família is one of Barcelona’s busiest buildings, with 4.5 million visitors a year to the interior of the temple and around 20 million to the area outside. This intensive use of public space and public transport in the area meant commitments were needed to improve corresponding public services and public space.

The agreement, signed in 2018, includes a contribution by the Sagrada Família for the sum of 36 million euros to fund municipal overheads generated by its activity. This will help directly with improvements to public services and maintenance in the area around the temple.

In detail, 22 million euros will be used to help fund the public transport network: 7 million will be used to improve access to the metro, with options such as the construction of a direct access to the temple or its exterior and extensions to existing accesses; 4 million will be used to revamp the streets of C/ Sardenya, C/ Provença, C/ Marina and C/ Mallorca, with the project to be defined via a participatory process with   the local community, and finally, 3 million will be used on street cleaning and maintenance, on safety and civic officers.