4 ms·

Yeah, the whole affair was about Barcelona getting a cut of the money from Sagrada Familia. > Barcelona officials said the city will be paid 4.6 million euros

Yeah, the whole affair was about Barcelona getting a cut of the money from Sagrada Familia. > Barcelona officials said the city will be paid 4.6 million euros ($5.2 million) in fees under an agreement negotiated with a foundation devoted to completing and preserving La Sagrada Familia.

dmix 7y ago
Yeah I was waiting for the article to explain why the building permit mattered until they mentioned the fee millions of tourists pay to go see it every day and it became obvious the city just wanted a piece of that. Why else would they demand $5.2M for a building permit.
- stan_rogers 7y ago
  Why should a church get a free ride?
  - dang 7y ago
    "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- jblow 7y ago
  Have you seen the building?? The picture at the top of the article is a small portion of the back. The thing is freaking giant.
- Shivetya 7y ago
  My favorite picture from Wikipedia [1], simply put it is just an amazing work. Article itself [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia#/media/File:%CE%A3%CE%B1%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B1_%CE%A6%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B1_2941.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia#/media/Fi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  I would expect there are some infrastructure requirements for that level of foot traffic in the area too? Although there’s a huge halo effect in terms of taxing nearby businesses too.
clarkmoody 7y ago
City: That's a nice, world-famous church you're building there. It would be a shame if something ... happened to it. Classic city government thug move.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- nraynaud 7y ago
  Hum, the history of the Catholic Church and democracy is a bit special in Spain, in particular in Catalonia.
  - spanxx 7y ago
    Care to explain?
    - nraynaud 7y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain#Roman_Catholicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain#Roman_Catholic...
- dang 7y ago
  Please don't post political or ideological flamebait here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
kilburn 7y ago
Of course the city is interested in getting a (larger) cut of the money. However, the Sagrada Familia is already a massive benefit for the city due to the visitors it attracts. Its administrators could've just raised the middle finger and Barcelona would definitely not have tore it down nor stopped its construction. Why did they enter the agreement then? The Sagrada Familia's original plans include a number of gardens that span outside of its current land. With this agreement in place, now the city can officially start making plans to eventually evict residents in the affected land space, freeing it up for the monument's gardens.

dmix 7y ago

Yeah I was waiting for the article to explain why the building permit mattered until they mentioned the fee millions of tourists pay to go see it every day and it became obvious the city just wanted a piece of that. Why else would they demand $5.2M for a building permit.

stan_rogers 7y ago
Why should a church get a free ride?
- dang 7y ago
  "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
jblow 7y ago
Have you seen the building?? The picture at the top of the article is a small portion of the back. The thing is freaking giant.
Shivetya 7y ago
My favorite picture from Wikipedia [1], simply put it is just an amazing work. Article itself [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia#/media/File:%CE%A3%CE%B1%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%AC%CE%B4%CE%B1_%CE%A6%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B1_2941.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia#/media/Fi... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia
erikpukinskis 7y ago
I would expect there are some infrastructure requirements for that level of foot traffic in the area too? Although there’s a huge halo effect in terms of taxing nearby businesses too.

clarkmoody 7y ago

City: That's a nice, world-famous church you're building there. It would be a shame if something ... happened to it. Classic city government thug move.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
nraynaud 7y ago
Hum, the history of the Catholic Church and democracy is a bit special in Spain, in particular in Catalonia.
- spanxx 7y ago
  Care to explain?
  - nraynaud 7y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain#Roman_Catholicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francoist_Spain#Roman_Catholic...
dang 7y ago
Please don't post political or ideological flamebait here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

kilburn 7y ago

Of course the city is interested in getting a (larger) cut of the money. However, the Sagrada Familia is already a massive benefit for the city due to the visitors it attracts. Its administrators could've just raised the middle finger and Barcelona would definitely not have tore it down nor stopped its construction. Why did they enter the agreement then? The Sagrada Familia's original plans include a number of gardens that span outside of its current land. With this agreement in place, now the city can officially start making plans to eventually evict residents in the affected land space, freeing it up for the monument's gardens.