Star atop Sagrada Família's newest tower to illuminate Barcelona skyline on December 8

The 12-point star atop the Sagrada Família's newest tower, the Virgin Mary, will illuminate the Barcelona skyline on December 8.

The Virgin Mary, which at 138 m will be Antoni Gaudí's yet-to-be-completed masterpiece's second-tallest, will be inaugurated on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception following a mass officiated by Cardinal Joan Josep Omella i Omella and the blessing of the tower.

Sagrada Família to inaugurate tower of the Virgin Mary on 8 December, feast of the Immaculate Conception
The programme of events scheduled for the inauguration, which run through January, will be available from 15 November on https://t.co/ASyC7WKr3M
🔵https://t.co/cYJacEccTQ pic.twitter.com/CyAOOfDMUe

— La Sagrada Família (@sagradafamilia) November 8, 2021

Spectators worldwide will be able to witness the lighting of the star at 7:40 pm CET as it will be streamed online from estel.sagradafamilia.org.

This latest addition to the basilica, which has been under construction since 1882, was unveiled on Monday. According to Jordi Faulí, the Sagrada Família's head architect, the star "will change the city skyline."

Made out of textured glass, it is 7.5 meters long, weighs 5.5 tonnes, and will be lifted to the top of the tower on November 29. The Virgin Mary is the ninth tower that has been built of the 18 envisioned by Gaudí. 

Gradual lighting of the tower

People all over the world have been invited to symbolically participate in the tower's illumination by sending in their digital flashes of light through the Sagrada Familia and Archdiocese websites. 

The base of the tower will be lit up on December 4, from 8 pm to 11 pm CET, while lights will turn on in the shaft at the same time two days later before the star is turned on on December 8. 

Other celebratory activities with local organizations and neighborhood groups, which will be announced on November 4, will take place until January 4.