The Sagrada familia basilica in Barcelona reopened its doors this Saturday, July 4, after more than three months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, by welcoming medical staff as a priority, in thanks for their commitment.
Read also: Coronavirus: the end of a long tunnel for culture
This first phase of the reopening of the modernist “ temple ” - one of the most visited buildings in Spain - is meant to be a “ tribute ” to all those who have mobilized against the epidemic of coronavirus in the second city of Spain. Caregivers, nurses, doctors - masked - wandered again in the building listed as World Heritage of Humanity, AFP noted. The basilica, imagined in the 19th century by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, and still under construction, is in fact specially open " to the health personnel of the main hospitals in Barcelona, to the agents of the various bodies who took care of the security of the city, to the staff of social organizations and NGOs, and to employers 'and merchants' organizations", According to a press release from the Sagrada familia. Then it will be the turn of the inhabitants of the city to rediscover their basilica, free of charge, with a crowd, however limited, and without tourists.
Read also: Coronavirus: one museum in ten may never reopen according to Unesco
When reservations were opened by internet for July and August, 37,750 admissions had been sold out in less than five hours, according to a press release from the Sagrada familia. During a third phase, local and foreign tourists will once again be able to crowd the doors of the basilica, emblematic of the Catalan capital.
At the same time, the region of Catalonia announced this Saturday the confinement of some 200,000 inhabitants around the city of Lerida, due to a renewed contagion as Spain begins the summer holidays and opens more largely to tourists.
