They Promised It by 2026. 144 Years Later, Here's What's Actually Built

A building permit set 2026 as the end date for the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - after 137 years of building. It is 2026: the central tower has reached its full 172.5 metres and made it the world's tallest church, but the church is not finished. This episode looks at what was promised, what got built, who pays, and what is left - including a stairway that would reach into the homes across Carrer de Mallorca. Should a city tear down homes so that a church can finish the entrance its architect may - or may not - have planned? Tell us in the comments. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:30 The Pitch: what was promised 1:18 The Number: how high 2:01 Who's Behind It 3:07 What Went Wrong, year by year 5:32 The Bill 6:44 What's Left 8:15 Your question The Build Report, episode 6. Images: freely licensed exterior photographs and public-domain archive photographs (credits below), satellite images (Copernicus Sentinel-2 via NASA GIBS/HLS). Graphics: our own. Credits: Photographs: freely licensed (CC0, CC BY) and public-domain images, exteriors only, credited per item below. No AI-generated images are used in this episode. Towers of Sagrada Família 01.jpg – Mattsjc – CC BY 4.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Basílica de la Sagrada Familia (1).jpg – Alberto-g-rovi – CC BY 3.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Familia from Montjuic (5838990801).jpg – Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Família (51971900540).jpg – Chris Yunker from St. Louis, United States – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... La Sagrada Familia (49737742096).jpg – Radek Kucharski from Warsaw, Poland – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Barcelona and the Sagrada Famillia (33187347438).jpg – Mike McBey – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Familia exposed rebar (18167105164).jpg – Eric Fischer – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Familia Building Site 2 (5838936295).jpg – Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Familia towers and construction cranes (18603572979).jpg – Eric Fischer – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sagrada Família Under Construction October 2015.jpg – Chris Koerner from St. Louis, USA – CC BY 2.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Barcelona panorama with the Sagrada Familia (opening shot of the Bus Turistic f… – TMB / Barcelona Turisme - promotional film for the Barcelona Bus Turistic, uploaded to YouTube under CC BY and transferred to Commons – CC BY 3.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... 1926-06-12, El Liberal, Antonio Gaudí, ilustre arquitecto fallecido en Barcelona – Ángel de la Fuente – CC BY 4.0 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Music: "Moonrise" by Tobias Voigt (Uppbeat) – https://uppbeat.io/t/tobias-voigt/moo... – License code: SCO59BPXZHVHORDZ "Kinetic" by Revo (Uppbeat) – https://uppbeat.io/t/revo/kinetic – License code: HRHKRUCNAVLWMACJ "Hidden Patterns" by Vocalista (Uppbeat) – https://uppbeat.io/t/vocalista/hidden... – License code: PRWAORRNR0MMW1ZG Graphics, maps and the mechanism animation: own work. Voice: ElevenLabs (Brian). Key sources: [S41] La Sagrada Familia rectifica i diu que culminar l'escalinata "afectara mes d'un edifici" – 3Cat, Catalan – https://www.3cat.cat/3catinfo/la-sagr... [S9] Cross lands in sky above Barcelona – Basilica press note – https://sagradafamilia.org/en/-/una-c... [S15] History of the Temple – Basilica website – https://sagradafamilia.org/en/history... Full source list (41 sources) and further image credits: see the pinned comment.