Junts per Barcelona has lodged an urgent motion seeking a precautionary halt to rehabilitation work at the Capella dels Segadors, beside the parish church of Sant Andreu de Palomar. The party says opposition groups and local organisations have not been able to examine the full executive project or the planned intervention.

For Sant Andreu residents and heritage groups, the request does not stop the works. It asks Barcelona City Council to pause them until the project, technical reports and heritage criteria can be reviewed.

“We believe the structure should have been consolidated by repairing the roof, damp and cracks without altering the building’s historic configuration,” said Ximena Gadea, Junts’ district spokesperson.

Junts requests project documents and access to the site

The party has described the intervention as a “botch” and said it risks diluting the chapel’s history. Councillor Xavier de la Cruz said the planned work “trivialises our history”.

  • a precautionary suspension while the executive project is reviewed;
  • access to technical and heritage reports, and to the criteria used for the intervention;
  • transparent involvement by institutions, opposition groups and Sant Andreu organisations.

Junts also says opposition representatives have not been allowed to visit the works, while representatives of the PSC, the Socialist Party of Catalonia, have made a visit. The party characterises this as unequal treatment.

Agreement covers roof and façade-wall consolidation

Barcelona City Council, the Archbishopric of Barcelona and the parish of Sant Andreu de Palomar signed an agreement on 22 July 2024 to rehabilitate the chapel roof. The Archbishopric said the agreement would allow structural consolidation as a first step towards a possible interpretation centre preserving the site’s historical memory.

The Capella dels Segadors is attached to the parish church and was associated with events that preceded the Reapers’ War in 1640. A heritage-protection file was opened on 28 September 2021, according to reporting on the Department of Culture procedure.

The official agreement identifies the roof as the immediate focus of the intervention. Junts’ motion seeks disclosure of the project documentation and a pause before further work proceeds.

Primary sources: Ramon. Reported by Source Text Link, Raquel Garcia, Jordi Palmer, esglesia.barcelona, Agencias, europapress.es, Rubén Pacheco, Andoni Berná, Redacción, Tot Barcelona.