FILE: Spain's Sagrada Familia gets building permit... after 137 years Construction of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia may have started 137 years ago, but the emblematic basilica only got a building permit... on Friday. In a quirk of history, authorities only discovered in 2016 that the building that draws millions of visitors every year had never had planning permission since construction began in 1882. FILE IMAGES of Sagrada Familia church