In Barcelona, the drone display for the Sagrada Família’s papal blessing was first rehearsed out of sight in the Empordà region. Before 700 drones formed the profile of Antoni Gaudí above the basilica, the team tested the sequence on secondary roads near Celrà and elsewhere in the Empordà.
Creative director Igor Cortadellas told Versió RAC1 that the off-site rehearsals were needed so the team could work discreetly on one of the show’s main surprises. He said secrecy mattered because if the Gaudí figure had been copied, the production would have been at risk.
Cortadellas also described one rehearsal in which a driver saw the figure appear in the sky, braked sharply, opened the car door and took out a mobile phone to take a photo. He said the team ran over to ask him not to share it, and that the driver left shaken.
The image rehearsed in Empordà became one of the most talked-about moments in the Sagrada Família event, which combined light, architecture, music, pyrotechnics and drones. The basilica entrusted the artistic direction to the Barcelona-born Cortadellas, who spent 18 months preparing the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death with his studio, Igor Studio.
The broadcast was also a major part of the production. Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat used Cinema Live, a live-cinema format that mixes television techniques with cinematic narrative and effects, and hired British technical manager Hector Sole-Bradshaw as a consultant. The show was directed on site by Paulí Subirà, with Domènec Gibert as director of photography and Eva Parra as gaffer, using 21 cameras and 700 drones.
The event also marked the debut of new lighting for the cross of Jesus, developed by the Endesa Foundation. According to Endesa, the system uses high-efficiency LED technology, is designed to respect Gaudí’s work, and will save 38% in energy while avoiding about 845 kg of CO₂ a year compared with conventional lighting.
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