Barcelona City Council has not set a timetable for deciding on the Sagrada Família’s Glory Façade and the grand staircase planned for its main entrance. The project would require changes to urban planning rules and could affect about 400 homes in the city.
The basilica already has permission to build the vertical elements of the façade, including four bell towers and the first section of the portico designed by Antoni Gaudí. Work is under way on the foundations for these pinnacles, but any further progress on the main entrance needs an additional municipal building licence.
The Junta Constructora, the basilica’s construction board, has submitted its proposal to the council. It includes the entrance plaza and access staircase, which would mean demolishing a building on Carrer Mallorca built by Núñez y Navarro, along with other smaller structures between that block and Carrer València. Some of the affected properties are currently vacant.
Negotiations over the impact on residents go back to the time of former mayor Jordi Hereu. Esteve Camps, president delegate of the Junta Constructora since 2011, has met successive mayors on the issue. During Ada Colau’s term, the works were regularised after more than two years of talks, and a licence for the façade’s vertical section was granted. A monitoring commission was also set up to discuss the staircase.
Under mayor Jaume Collboni, the council has said its priority is rehousing residents and that the Sagrada Família must cover compensation costs. Collboni and Eixample councillor Jordi Valls visited the basilica in spring 2024, and municipal officials including Urban Planning councillor Laia Bonet and chief architect Maria Buhigas later met representatives of affected residents. The council has not publicly given a deadline and declines to comment on the state of the talks.
Construction continues elsewhere at the basilica, which is now 80% complete. The next milestones include the completion of the Assumption Chapel, scheduled for next year, and the interior of the Jesus tower, which is expected to open to visitors in 2028.
