In entrance of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, gaggles of vacationers pose for selfies. They crowd the pavement earlier than the well-known Gaudí-designed basilica and even step into the highway for a greater angle.
This quest for an Instagram-worthy picture comes on the expense of residents’ day by day lives.
For over a decade, locals have lambasted the crowds of holiday makers that hinder the passage of pedestrians and maintain up site visitors across the spiritual website.
Barcelona metropolis authorities have now unveiled plans to corral selfie-snapping guests right into a devoted space to ease the congestion.
As considered one of Spain’s hotspot locations, it’s the newest measure from officers to manage tourism within the metropolis.
Sagrada Familia selfie house will ‘reconcile vacationers and the neighbourhood’
Barcelona metropolis council has introduced it would assemble a particular zone beside the Sagrada Familia the place guests can take a breather – and a selfie – earlier than coming into the church.
The 6,200-square-metre ‘anteroom’ can be situated between the Nativity façade of the basilica and Plaça Gaudí on Carrer de la Marina.
Till just lately, Plaça Gaudí had been exploited by vacationers for a TikTok development that brought about appreciable disruption.
It concerned guests balancing their telephones on metro escalators to movie themselves whereas the enduring monument appeared within the background. The development led to vacationers clogging station exits and was finally banned.
“The brand new undertaking helps to resolve an area the place it’s tough to reconcile makes use of between guests to the temple and the neighbourhood,” the town council mentioned in a press launch.
Building on the gathering zone is scheduled to start after the summer time and be completed by April 2026 to coincide with the one hundredth anniversary of Gaudí’s loss of life.
The €2.7 million undertaking is a part of a wider €15.5 million plan to enhance infrastructure and customer administration across the sacred website.
The Sagrada Familia attracts 4.7 million guests a 12 months and is the second most visited website in Spain, after the Alhambra in Granada.
‘Tourism must be serving the town’s mannequin’
Now drawing 32 million guests a 12 months, Barcelona has beforehand launched a number of measures to curb overtourism.
In 2024, the town launched a €44 million plan to manage crowds in 16 vacationer hotspots by deploying extra cleaners and cops to keep up order and security.
Final July, the town deserted its ‘Go to Barcelona’ slogan of 15 years in favour of the brand new ‘That is Barcelona’, marking a rebranding which shifts the vacation spot away from mass tourism.
Barcelona has additionally pledged to ban short-term condominium leases to vacationers by 2028 and cap cruise ship disembarkations.
Talking after the announcement final 12 months, the town’s mayor Jaume Collboni mentioned the choice got here in response to the danger of Barcelona turning into a “theme park” devoid of residents.
“Tourism must be serving the town’s mannequin, not the alternative,” he added.