Star Metro - Pope arrives at Barcelona's Sagrada Familia to bless new tower

The church is a still-unfinished modernist masterpiece by architect Antoni Gaudi that was visited by nearly five million people last year.

Construction work on the Sagrada Familia began in 1882 and full completion is expected in about a decade.

The pope's visit during a week-long trip to Spain coincides with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death on June 10, 1926.

The devout Catholic, whose cause for sainthood is advancing in the Vatican, was hit by a tram while on his way to pray at a church.

The pontiff, who arrived in Barcelona from Madrid on Tuesday, was welcomed outside the basilica by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, among others, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

After praying at Gaudí's tomb in the basilica's crypt, Leo was set to celebrate Mass before blessing the Tower of Jesus Christ following the service.

As throughout his trip to Spain, large crowds lined the pope's route and cheered as his popemobile slowly approached the basilica.

"To see the tower of the Sagrada Familia completed and blessed by the pope fills me with joy," said María del Carmen Guillaume, 80, who was among 4,000 local residents invited to attend the Mass.

- 'Faith and love' -

Pope Leo flew to Spain on Saturday, starting his visit in Madrid where he gave an unprecedented speech to the Spanish parliament and held an open-air mass with 1.5 million people.

During his visit, the US-born leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has denounced polarisation and called for "patient dialogue" instead of war and rearmament.

He has also sought to reinvigorate the Church in a traditional Catholic bastion where religious observance has declined sharply and has promised the Church will do more to tackle what he called the "scourge" of sexual violence by clergy.

After Barcelona, he visits the Canary Islands on Thursday and Friday where he will focus on immigration as the Atlantic archipelago is a key entry point to Europe for irregular migrants.

Before the Sagrada Familia mass on Wednesday, he visited a prison and an abbey in the Montserrat mountain range overlooking Barcelona.

At the Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey, the pope was greeted by thousands of people waving mainly Catalan and Vatican flags.

After praying in the abbey, he spoke from a balcony outside in a mix of Catalan and Spanish and said Spain was "full of faith and love" to cheers from the crowd.

- Completion challenge -

The Sagrada Familia's soaring central Jesus Christ tower was only completed in February, bringing the basilica to its maximum height of 172.5 metres (566 feet).

The peak deliberately falls short of the 177 metres (581 feet) of Barcelona's Montjuic hill -- an act of religious respect from Gaudi who believed the hill was the work of God.

The Covid-19 pandemic paralysed the tourism industry -- and with it the key source of income of the most-visited of Spain's monuments that charge an entrance fee.

Tourists from around the world are now flooding back, boosting the coffers of the basilica, which relies on the takings as well as private donations.

Yet the contsruction board is reticent to set a new finish date for the remaining work, including the divisive Glory Facade and its four bell towers.

The board's plan to precede the front entrance by a large flight of steps and a square would entail destroying up to two blocks of homes.

In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the unfinished Sagrada Familia for religious worship and designated it a basilica, calling it "an example of love, hard work and service to God."

A.Gagnon--SMC