building

105 residents have been evacuated as fire fighters assess damages

Seven-year licence will allow work on Barcelona's iconic landmark to be completed in 2026, the centenary of architect Antoni Gaudí's death

Licence will cost Antoni Gaudí's landmark church €4.6m, making it the most expensive in Barcelona's modern history

The final phase of construction of the Sagrada Família basilica in Barcelona has begun. In two years’ time, the six central towers will already be visible and by 2023 they will be complete, making it the tallest religious building in Europe. Barcelona’s most iconic building is expected to be completed by 2026, to coincide with the 100^th anniversary of architect Antoni Gaudí’s death. The construction work is currently focused on the transept, a room that wasn’t planned by Gaudí, and that is set to bear the weight of Jesus tower, the biggest one, which will be 172.5 m high. The transept room will also be used as a landing space for visitors before they start the ascent to the tower. Audiovisual projections showing the progress of the work on the building will also be exhibited in the transept room, which has already been set up with stone stands for visitors. The work on Sagrada Familia represents 25 million euros in annual investment and the basilica is visited by more than 3 million people every year.

The Financial Vice-President Javier Faus says that the Board of Directors are studying options to build a new stadium or remodel the Camp Nou, which is Europe’s largest stadium by capacity with 99,700 seats. Faus stated “We want to secure patrimonial excellence for the next 100 years”. In addition, he explained that the FC Barcelona Board will only present building projects for referendum that are economically viable. Faus recognised that building a whole new stadium at Diagonal would be much more expensive than the rebuilding project at Les Corts. The first project would cost €600 million and the second, €300 million.

The cultural facility is thought to be an adaptable building, a library of the 21st century. The project comes with more than 13 years of delay and it is the first ever Spanish Government-funded library in Barcelona.

The Barometer of confidence in the housing sector indicates a restoration of trust for the first time since the beginning of the economic crisis

The Housing Prices continue to decrease but in a smaller pace. Housing prices in Catalonia have dropped by 2.3% compared to last year. In the Spanish state, a drop of 3.6% was recorded.

The lack of public construction contracts will affect the building sector and make for an unlikely recovery in the industry, according to the Institute for Construction Technologies of Catalonia.