Staff Reporter
THE Sagrada Familia is one of Spain’s most famous tourist destinations. Tickets must be booked in advance, with spots to walk through the largest (unfinished) Catholic church in the world snapped in seconds.
Attracting more than four million visitors each year, the tourist crowds have prompted authorities to enact new regulating measures to protect the area’s longevity.
One measure will be an area dedicated to picture taking in a large plaza on the Placa Gaudi facing the front of the church, the New York Post reported. This is to alleviate the crowds clogging Barcelona’s roads and pavements trying to capture their perfect Gaudi moment.
As the cathedral nears its completion date next year, its expected tourist crowds will only increase.
The plaza will link to Avinguda de Gaudi, encouraging flows towards the Sant Pau Modernist complex.
Other measures include expanding public space, regulating visitor flows, and recovering spaces for neighbourhood activities.
“The area around the Sagrada Familia was not designed for the intensive use it currently experiences,” officials said, in the action plan put together by the Barcelona Tourism Management (BTM).
Work on the self-area is expected to begin in September and take around eight and a half months to complete. The total project itself is expected to cost around €15.5m.
The Barcelona Tourism Management hopes to ease tourism’s negative impact on its city by 2027.
The plan comes after conflicts between locals and tourists last year, where protestors sprayed unsuspecting visitors with water pistols, the chants of ‘tourists go home’ echoing around the city.
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