Tourists throng all spots around Sagrada Familia (Photo: India Outbound)
Faced with demands by residents to address the rush of tourists at key tourism spots in the city, notably at Sagrada Familia, the biggest tourist attraction of the capital of Catalunya region of Spain, Barcelona City officials have decided to demarcate selfie zone.
Until recently, Plaça Gaudí, the square on which the Cathedral stands, had been exploited by tourists for a social media trend that caused considerable disruption. The quest for the perfect selfie by the millions of tourists who visit Barcelona every month has led to frequent disruptions in traffic in the city as tourists often pose on the roads to get that perfect shot.
In a press statement, Barcelona City Council says it will construct a special zone beside the Sagrada Familia where visitors can take a breather – and a selfie – before entering the church.
The 6,200-sqm ‘anteroom’ will be located between the Nativity façade of the basilica and Plaça Gaudí on Carrer de la Marina.
It involved visitors balancing their phones on metro escalators to film themselves while the iconic monument appeared in the background. The trend led to tourists clogging station exits and was eventually banned.
Construction of the gathering zone is scheduled to begin after the summer and be finished by April 2026 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death.
The EUR 2.7 million project is part of a wider EUR 15.5 million plan to improve infrastructure and visitor management around the sacred site. The Sagrada Familia attracts 4.7 million visitors a year and is the second most visited site in Spain, after the Alhambra in Granada.
Now drawing 32 million visitors a year, Barcelona has previously introduced several measures to curb overtourism. In 2024, the city launched a EUR 44 million plan to regulate crowds in 16 tourist hotspots by deploying more cleaners and police officers to maintain order and safety.
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