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«La Tarde», on the Spanish national radio network COPE, interviewed José Manuel Almuzara on 10 June 2026, the centenary of Antoni Gaudí's death and the day Pope Leo XIV blessed the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família. Almuzara spoke about the cause of beatification and about the faith that sustained the architect's work.
José Manuel Almuzara —an architect, Gaudí scholar and promoter of Antoni Gaudí's cause of beatification— was interviewed by Pilar García Muñiz on «La Tarde», broadcast by COPE, a Spanish national radio network linked to the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The station published the interview on 10 June 2026, a date of double significance: it marked one hundred years since Gaudí's death, and that same day Pope Leo XIV was in Barcelona to bless the Tower of Jesus Christ at the Sagrada Família. For the headline, COPE chose Almuzara's own words: «I never ceased to be impressed by the Christian man who was behind it all. Gaudí attracts, makes an impact and converts».
Much of the conversation focused on the cause of beatification, which, according to Almuzara, is going through a decisive phase. Pope Francis declared Gaudí Venerable in April 2025, a recognition of the heroic nature of his virtues. For him to be proclaimed blessed, a miracle attributed to his intercession must still be confirmed, and Almuzara explained that a possible miracle is being studied at the Vatican and that its examination could be resolved during 2026. He himself has devoted more than thirty years to this cause: in 1992 he co-founded the association that promotes it, and he has worked ever since to make known the architect's Christian witness.
Almuzara also recalled an episode in the history of La Pedrera, the Casa Milà on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia. The building was to have been crowned with a sculpture of the Virgin, but the Milà family gave it up out of fear after the Tragic Week of 1909, the uprising in which numerous churches and convents in the city were set on fire. In that climate of violence against the Church, the owners feared that a religious image at the top of the building would make it a target. The interview then turned to another dimension of his work: an architecture inspired by nature and pioneering in recycling and sustainability.
The three words of the headline —attracts, makes an impact and converts— point to another of the themes of the conversation: Almuzara spoke of cases of healings and conversions attributed to Gaudí's influence. It was a busy day for him: on that same 10 June he also appeared live on Televisión Española, the Spanish public broadcaster, in the special programme devoted to the Pope's visit to the Sagrada Família. The date also held a personal meaning. That day marked 34 years since he became president of the Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudí, on 10 June 1992, and the cause he has championed ever since is now entering its decisive stage.