If you’re travelling to see a famous landmark, you’ll likely encounter content creators and selfie-snapping tourists (hey, you might even be one of them – no judgement here). They may be harmless, but sometimes they really just get in the way.
That’s certainly been the case for Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia. Last year, a popular TikTok trend, which saw creators recording themselves emerging from the metro in front of the famous monument, was banned by transport authorities as it caused so much disruption.
@catalan_news 📹🚫 From the 'prettiest metro exit' to a permanent ban on Barcelona's network The audio starts with 'Pròxima estació: Sagrada Família' and the video shows people on an escalator with Barcelona's unfinished basilica as a background The trend became so popular that transport authorities (TMB) were forced to set up posters written in Catalan, Spanish, and English, banning placing phones on the escalator to record videos on the stairs due to the risk of falling or items getting stuck Link in bio to learn more about it! #SagradaFamília #fyp #Trend #TikTokers #Barcelona #BCN #Catalonia #Catalunya #Instagram #influencer #CatalanNews ♬ sonido original - Catalan News
Now, the city council is going a step further. In an effort to ease congestion for locals and clamp down on tourists blocking roads and walkways to get the perfect photo, a dedicated ‘selfie zone’ is being set up outside the cathedral.
The ‘special zone’ will be a 6,200-square-metre ‘anteroom’ between the Nativity façade of the basilica and Plaça Gaudí on Carrer de la Marina. It will be a designated area for people to gather themselves and get their photos before entering the cathedral.
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According to euronews, it’s a €2.7 million project that will begin after the summer and should be completed by April 2026, just in time for the centenary of Gaudi’s death.
It’s part of a wider €15.5 million plan to better the infrastructure and visitor management around the landmark – the Sagrada Familia welcomes around 4.7 million people per year, after all.
In a press release, the city council said: ‘The new project helps to resolve a space where it is difficult to reconcile uses between visitors to the temple and the neighbourhood.’
The enormous, ornate cathedral in central Barcelona is one of Spain’s most popular attractions. Considered one of Gaudí’s masterpieces, it’s been unfinished for over a century, but is set to finally be completed in 2026.
Overtourism in Spain
It’s no secret that locals in Spain’s second city are pretty tired of tourists. City authorities are introducing measures, including a cap on holiday lets, to mitigate the issue – and so are plenty of other Spanish hotspots, from the Canaries to Alicante and Madrid. Read more about the Spain ‘tourism ban’ here.
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