Popular church will curb tourist crowds by creating separate 'selfie space'
Many travelers to Barcelona, Spain, may find themselves at one of the most beautiful sacred places in the world: the Sagrada Familia.
The basilica is the largest unfinished Catholic church, attracting not just worshippers but tourists from all over.
Sagrada Familia attracts so many tourists that the city of Barcelona is now building a specific area just for visitors to snap photos.
In an action plan put together by the Barcelona Tourism Management (BTM), officials state, "The area around the Sagrada Familia was not designed for the intensive use it currently experiences."
The public spaces in that area, the plan said, have reached a "saturation point."
Officials say that "work needs to be done to improve this space in the following areas of intervention: urban landscape, tourist attraction points, public space model and disruptions or transformations resulting from urban developments."
One of the tourist attraction points is an area dedicated to picture taking in a large plaza on the Placa Gaudi facing the front of the church.
The plaza will alleviate congested sidewalks and leave room in front of local businesses that were previously blocked by tourists.
The church was designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi beginning in 1882.
It attracted 4.7 million visitors in 2023, according to BTM.
"A new design of the square would allow a [physical link] with Avinguda de Gaudí to encourage flows toward the Sant Pau Modernist complex," the action plan says.
The annual volume of visitors to the basilica and its surrounding area is estimated to be between 18 and 22 million people, according to BTM.
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