As the information session with local people explained, the work will last eight months and is due to be completed at the end of next May, with a budget of just over two million euros.

The project covers an overall area of 6,200 square metres and is organised into three stages to minimise inconvenience and ensure users can circulate at all times. The first stage, lasting two months, will cover the two pavements in the streets of Provença and Mallorca. The current disruption to the bus lane in C/ Mallorca will be maintained during this stage, with the two-way bike lane in Provença also partially affected, without cutting circulation. The second stage will cover the central part of Plaça Gaudí, leaving the current pavement for use by local people and those with admission tickets to access the temple.

Project inspired by the proposal from Rubió i Tudurí

The new project helps resolve a space where it is difficult to combine uses by local people and visitors to the temple. The work creates a continuous double block, similar to other singular spaces in L’Eixample, including the University of Barcelona, Hospital Clínic and El Model, generating a large open space that connects Plaça Gaudí with the steps at the entrance to the Sagrada Família.

The idea behind the project is inspired by a proposal from Rubió i Tudurí in 1977 for the current Plaça Gaudí. It introduces a circular layout, amending the lane from C/ Marina and taking it further away from the façade of the temple, a route which it currently only maintains at the limit between the parterre and the pavement. This circular layout, with the transept of the Sagrada Família at the centre, coexists with the radial geometric system linking the steps with the access paths from the square, combining with Av. Gaudí and connecting the two radial paths of the steps in C/ Marina. The overlay of these two systems becomes the base for the new square.

Action plan for the Sagrada Família EGA

The work is part of the action plan for the high-influx tourist area (EGA) of Sagrada Família (2024-2027), which sets out a series of steps for managing tourism and addressing the tensions generated by the intensity of uses in this space. The plan aims to mitigate the impact of tourism, with a series of actions aimed at easing public spaces, regulating flows of visitors, driving diversity in local commerce and regaining spaces for use by local residents.

To address the challenge of saturation and free up public space, a study was initiated to improve the environs of the Sagrada Família, in the area delimited by the streets of Sicília, Provença, Lepant and Av. Diagonal, analysing how to make this area better for pedestrians, mobility, the positioning of services and provisional activities that have become consolidated.

The transformation of the section of C/ Marina, which connects with Plaça Gaudí, is the first action planned in the context of broader measures to be applied in the future.