A superlative display of lights, a heavenly choir and the magic of drones have given shape to the majestic inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ of the Sagrada Familia and the blessing to it, granted by Pope Leo XIV during his visit to Barcelona. The beautiful event has been an unprecedented social and cultural event, a tribute to the work and dream of Antonio Gaudí and a historic audiovisual broadcast.
The event took place after the celebration of a mass inside the church, the highest in the world, at 172.5 meters; and has been presided over from the façade of the Nativity, by the Kings of Spain and the President of the Government together with hundreds of members of the Church and civil society, who have attended for the first time the lighting of the tower, one of the key spaces of the building and which has been under construction for 144 years.
The show was a visual tribute to Gaudí, the architect of the Sagrada Familia and the greatest representative of Catalan modernism, on the centenary of his death. which took place on June 10, 1926 when he was run over by a tram. In this sense, light, a key element in all of Gaudí’s work, has been the great protagonist.
For more than eight minutes, the temple was illuminated inside and out thanks to the lights that highlighted the stained glass windows, the more than 40,000 lanterns distributed among the attendees and the candles carried by the young people who sang in front of the façade of the basilica. The cross of the Tower of Jesus, which is covered in glass and 15,000 pieces of white glazed ceramic, has also been illuminated from the outside and inside, where it has hosted an orchestra.
The lights have been accompanied by the songs of a choir of more than 500 people and the notes of the organ, which have created a beautiful and solemn harmony. The event culminated with the image of Antoni Gaudí recreated with drones in the sky, and looking at his great work.
The devices have also projected a well-known phrase from the architect: “Primer l’amor, després la tècnica” (First love, then technique). Fireworks and a final fireworks display have put the finishing touch to an event that is already recorded in the history of Spain.
The show has been designed by the Catalan Creative and Artistic Director Igor Cortadellas, specialized in the fusion of music, image and technology. Among other things, creative director of the commemorative events of the Telefónica Centennial, held at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; as well as the Copa América final event, which featured the orchestra and choir of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
And it has been led on the audiovisual level by the director Paulí Subirà Claramunt, Head of Image at 3Cat. The Catalan channel has been in charge of producing the signal with a technical deployment that, according to it, had never been used live in Europe until now. And it has deployed a UHD-HDR production entirely with film technology.
The broadcast was based on the Cine Live system, which offers live images in ultra high definition and has allowed us to offer an aesthetic that is more cinematic than television, which has placed the event at the technological forefront. It has had a total of twenty Sony cameras, some of them robotic, and high-tech equipment from Fuji.
The act has thus put cinematographic tools at the service of a narrative focused on creating a memorable experience and involving the viewer in a historical moment; while highlighting the excitement of a live television event with a unique visual personality.
The show will be collected in a documentary
All of this has been collected by Telefónica in a documentary titled “Sagrada Familia, 7 days earlier.” It has been produced by TBS, the group’s creative production company, and can soon be seen on Movistar Plus, the company’s streaming platform. Telefónica maintains a collaboration agreement with the Construction Board of the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia to support the commemorative events of the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, which include this inauguration of the Tower of Jesus Christ.
The content will delve into the work carried out during the seven days leading up to the grand opening of the Tower of Jesus, with exclusive images of the process towards the big event. Together with the teams involved, it will show the complexity of technical coordination, rehearsals, decision-making and the management of unforeseen events on a key day.
“Our collaboration goes beyond providing technological and economic resources, and will leave the legacy of a documentary that will go down in history reflecting the work carried out in recent days coinciding with your blessing.” commented Rafael Fernández de Alarcón, Director of Brand, Sponsorships and Media at Telefonica, through Linkedin. “A ceremony that will be the center of attention of half the world thanks to the presence of Pope Leo XIV and in which Telefónica has the responsibility of being the main technological collaborator. So today we collaborate doubly”.
On the other hand, it should be noted that TBS has also contributed to the coverage of the Pope’s visit to Madrid by Telemadrid and Onda Madird, providing the technical and human means necessary for the production of the institutional signal. According to reports from the production company, the technical infrastructure and specialized personnel were made available to the regional entity to guarantee the production and transmission of the most relevant events.
