You'd have thought that after last weekend's Papal blessing, the polemic surrounding the newly created basilica, La Sagrada Familia (La SF) would die down while work got on to complete Gaudi's project. But no, life in Barcelona is never that simple. Tuesday's papers were full of speculation about the future of the 128 year-old building, not least whether it will come tumbling down when tunneling for the high-speed train the AVE continues, not quite underneath it but pretty close. Mind you it seems a tough old bird and survived Civil War bombs as well as an attempted burning in 1936.
It seems, however, there are other demolition matters pending too. According to freebie paper ADN, plans to knock down two housing blocks on nearby Calle Majorca are to go ahead in order to create a grand entrance for La SF and extend adjacent green areas. Naturally owners of flats in the blocks are somewhat pissed off since they haven't been properly consulted, and it seems most likely they will not be compensated fully when their houses get the metal ball treatment.
BCN mayor Jordi Hereu assures residents that this destruction is years away -though not that it won't happen. One wonders what would he feel if he knew that sometime in the vague future his house would be knocked down and that, at best, he would get less than market value. Notably on compulory purchase orders such as this, Government valuations are on the low side to say the least. And these buildings are not exactly slum clearance stuff -the ADN photo taken from the visitor's gallery of the SF shows that. Residents don't want to move even though every day tourist buses are parked all round the place and at 7 am they are woken up by construction noise. Have they ever been compensated for that I wonder? Ironically, many people criticised these same residents for renting out their balconies to Popophiles last weekend to take pictures of his highness and entourage. Perhaps they deserved this for the inconvenience of limited access to their houses for the whole weekend?
I have a feeling that there is more to this than meets ADN's eye and one of those things is money. La SF is the most symbolic building in Barcelona - even though lots of Barcelona residents have never been inside it or up its towers. A conservative estimate shows that it's worth about 30 million per year on entrances fees alone, without all the spin-offs from souvenirs, guided visits - and visitors coming to BCN proper. So it's got huge drawing power. Can't it do without a huge stepped entrance - which apparently wasn't even on Gaudi's plan anyway - so these soon to be thrown out families can rest in their beds. Well, till 7am anyway. For the next 15 years.
La SF to me symbolises all that is negative about Barcelona despite its quirky architectual uniqueness and many say beauty. You have noise and dirt from the building site from dawn to dusk. You have masses of people arriving on the Metro and in tour buses. And you have the pickpockets and con-men living off them all. Don't get me wrong I love the city but this is definitely a rip-off area. Still there's a good pub there if it all gets too much. 'Michael Collins'. Now he'd have known what to do with the pickpockets!
