Barcelona tourists and residents alike often flock to the gorgeous Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. But with so many visitors constantly crowding around and taking photos of the church, officials have decided to create a plan to address its high traffic.
One particular point in the action plan? Providing tourists with a designated “selfie station,” where they can gather to take pictures without blocking the flow of traffic. That way, eager visitors won’t crowd nearby sidewalks or block the entrances of local businesses.
La Sagrada Familia Has a Tourist Problem
According to its website, “The area around the Sagrada Familia was not designed for the intensive use it currently experiences.”
For reference, the church and its surrounding area experience an annual volume of between 18 and 22 million visitors. That’s not including local residents.
“In 2023, the Sagrada Família received 4.7 million visitors, a figure that represents between 14,000 and 16,000 people per day,” officials reported. “In addition, it is estimated that 18 million people visit the area around the church.”
This has led the public space to reach a “saturation point,” triggering officials to create an action plan that will address and improve the “urban landscape, tourist attraction points, public space model, and disruptions or transformations resulting from urban developments.”
Due to this increased tourism and visits, many locals have faced shortages of services and shops. This plan also seeks to regulate visitor flows and recover the public space for local residents.
“The large number of visitors affects the day-to-day lives of local residents,” the plan states. “The feeling of not having access to public space where they can carry out their own activities leads local residents to claim that public space should be for local people, and making their needs compatible with the large number of tourists is not an easy task.”
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