Thousands of free tickets to La Sagrada Família are up for grabs

Here’s your chance to see the inside of La Sagrada Família for free.

Over 10 years ago, on my uni-classic Euro trip, I was as excited as any other to lay eyes on the architectural splendour of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona. Like many other structures in this Spanish city crafted by famous architect Antoni Gaudí, the unique curves and lack of pointy edges were truly something to behold – even with much of it hidden behind a halo of unattractive scaffolding. And I wasn’t even allowed to enter at that time.

Now that the end of construction is finally in sight, the announcement of free tickets to La Sagrada Família is all the more exciting.

Why are there free tickets to La Sagrada Família?

La Sagrada Família is actually Antoni Gaudí’s final resting place. (Picture: Getty/Vunav V)

After more than a century of construction, La Sagrada Família is marked for completion in 2026, but that’s not why thousands of tickets are being given away to visitors. Instead, it’s to celebrate Barcelona’s annual Winter Festival – Festa Santa Eulàlia – in early February. The official online competition will raffle off 8,500 tickets to visit the Basilica, including the museum, which just opened a brand new immersive room last December.

How can you enter?

Sagrada Família is the largest unfinished Catholic church in Spain.

Anyone can enter the draw, just fill out the registration form via La Sagrada Família’s official website by 9pm local time on Sunday February 8 (That’s Monday 9 Feb at 7am AEDT).

The list of winners will be published on the same website the next day. Winners will be awarded up to four free tickets with a specific time slot allocated. Given that individual tickets normally start at about $44 for basic entry (including an audio guide) and up to about $61 for tickets that include a tower visit, that’s a few hundred dollars back in your pocket to be spent on sangria.

When can you visit with a free ticket?

Step inside the famous church. (Credit: Jiawei Tang)

Those visitors lucky enough to score a free ticket will be able to redeem them on February 14 (romantic) and 15, with entry from 3pm – 5.30pm or 3pm – 7pm, depending on the ticket.

The history of La Sagrada Família

La Sagrada Familia is a one-of-a-kind architectural masterpiece. (Image: Getty Images/Vladislav Zolotov)

The majority of La Sagrada Família is already open to the public, with the final phase of construction (now underway) set to finish the building and fitting of the final of three towers, and it’s very nearly done.

Why did it take about 144 years to complete one (albeit very grand) church? Construction was already slow going when Gaudí was alive, as it relied on private donations to progress. But after the architect’s untimely death, the project timeline became what can only be described as a schamozzle.

Gaudí intentionally never finished his design blueprint, leaving it for future generations to use their own creative freedom to finish the structure. He also hoped that it would allow space to incorporate the use of new technologies and provide future funding opportunities.

A beautiful notion, but then during the Spanish Civil War, Gaudí’s workshop and the designs he had made were burned to the ground, making the task far more difficult than he could have imagined.

If you’re planning on being in Barcelona this February, register for your chance to win free tickets now!