Gaudí, "architect of God" and symbol of mass tourism in Barcelona

Last year, nearly five million people flocked to the majestic basilica, the most visited paid monument in Spain. Its other achievements, in the heart of the Catalan capital, also attract crowds.

"He was a genius," enthuses Xavier Villanueva, architect and director of the very colorful "Casa Batlló," which welcomed nearly two million visitors in 2024: "He knew how to touch people deep inside."

Antoni Gaudí's life is inextricably linked to his unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Família, whose construction he oversaw from the late 19th century, without ever seeing it completed. He died on June 10, 1926, at the age of 73, a few days after being hit by a tram while on his way to pray in a church.

A century later, to the day, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass next Wednesday in the monumental basilica, which is perpetually under construction, a further recognition of the work of the Catalan architect, who was made "venerable" last year by the Vatican, a step prior to his beatification.

Deep faith

Born in 1852 into a devout Catholic family, Antoni Gaudí quickly became one of Barcelona's most prominent architects. Prominent citizens and entrepreneurs entrusted important projects to this young man with a strong character and a pronounced taste for nature.

But his life took a dramatic turn after a series of deaths among his loved ones, which led him to undertake an extreme fast in 1894. A new stage then opened for this man, recognized for his work and his defense of Catalan identity, marked by a deep faith.

"It's not that Gaudí led a 'bon vivant' life, but he remained inwardly attached to such human things as vanity or ambition. But it was really at that moment that he began to (...) place himself after God," explains Armand Puig Tàrrech, a priest and theologian who participated in the preparation of the 1,700-page document submitted to the Vatican to request his beatification.

After this foundational existential crisis, Gaudí adopted an austere, almost mystical way of life, which, according to some of his most fervent admirers, made him a saint.

"If we look at his career, we see that he is a man of God," emphasizes José Manuel Almuzara, co-founder in 1992 of the Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudí.

Along with four other collaborators, he has devoted his energy for more than three decades to making the life and work of the architect known, as well as collecting testimonies from people claiming to have called upon him in times of difficulty.

Currently, the Vatican medical commission is investigating a possible miracle, a prerequisite before Gaudí can be proclaimed "blessed".

"Miracle"

Known for his brooding nature, Gaudí, who remained a bachelor all his life, hated having admirers and even refused photographs, according to his biographers - an irony when millions of people now visit his works, which have become, despite himself, a lucrative symbol of mass tourism in Barcelona.

"When a brand develops, there are always official uses, and then unofficial uses that seek to profit from it," laments Galdric Santana, professor of architecture at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and head of events this year related to the centenary of Gaudí's death.

On June 10, the eyes of the world will once again turn to the architect's most famous work, when Pope Leo XIV blesses the Jesus Tower, which, at 172,5 meters high, makes the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world.

"The most obvious miracle, for me, is having created a work that everyone wants to discover," marvels Gijs van Hensbergen, author of a biography of the Catalan. "Atheists, Buddhists, people from all over the world come to Barcelona to see this building which borders on the miraculous."