The Tower of Jesus Christ, the tallest of the Sagrada Familia temple, will be topped at 176 meters by a four-armed cross 17 meters high and 13.50 meters wide and will be covered with enameled ceramic and glass, as explained by Jordi Faulí, the architect director of the works. In the middle there will be a representation of the Lamb of God and the legends Amen, Hallelujah. This glass cross will reflect sunlight during the day and at night will project a subtle light thanks to some spotlights.
Faulí also specified that it will be a space open to visitors and therefore a privileged viewpoint over Barcelona, becoming the highest panoramic point, surpassing other emblematic buildings with views of the city such as the Hotel Arts or the Mapfre tower, which are 154 meters high, or also the Glòries tower, the Meliá Sky hotel or the Colón building which, built in 1970, was Barcelona's first skyscraper over 100 meters.
The works on the Tower of Jesus Christ do not, for now, have a start date, but what is being finalized is the first of the six central towers that the temple will have: the Tower of the Virgin, the second tallest in the Basilica complex, 138 meters high. Once completed, it will display a twelve-pointed star that is expected to be illuminated next December 8, with a celebration for all citizens.
Visitors will have access to the viewpoint that will be enabled inside the cross to enjoy privileged views over BarcelonaThe construction of this tower has absorbed all the efforts of the Sagrada Familia Construction Board during 2021, as its director, Xavier Martínez, explained at a press conference. The forced closures of the Basilica to the visiting publiceconomic resources have considerably diminishedto carry out the works within the planned schedule, which had set the goal of finishing the work in 2026. According to the board, they will not be able to determine the new completion date until 2024 and ask for "caution" given the economic difficulties the temple is experiencing.
After reopening its doors on May 1 of this year ---it had closed in September 2020--- the temple has already received 359,000 visitors, a significant figure but much lower than usual. In fact, it represents 24.5% of all visitors it had in 2019.
Xavier Martínez assures that "if the situation evolves favorably, the forecast for visitors in 2022 is 30% or 40% of those we had in 2019". The Constructing Board, throughout its history, "has gone through very complicated moments, but always continued to make Gaudí's project a reality" and, therefore, "this time will be no exception".
The decrease in tourists has resulted in a drastic drop in income, from nearly 100 million in 2019 to the almost 35 million projected for 2022. The sale of tickets to see Antoni Gaudí's work is a fundamental source of funding, but donations have also been. It is for this reason, and given the current context, that the board reactivates the international campaign T'acabarem, to encourage donations from people who want to be part of the final push for Gaudí's temple complex and with which it is expected to raise between 200,000 euros and 250,000 euros by the end of the year.
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