September 11, 2025
By Ferran Garcés
The Catalan identity of Antoni Gaudí is a key topic for understanding the architect’s work, life, and legacy. However, it is not a subject that has been deeply studied or effectively disseminated. First of all, it’s important to mention the lack of direct documents to study it, given the reserved nature of the architect, who never wanted to be part of any political party or engage in polemics through articles or lectures. As a result, few first-hand testimonies remain. Most are anecdotes and quotes referred by third parties, interpreted in very different ways.
An Exceptional Interview
One of the few direct testimonies is an interview given by the architect on August 9, 1917, just days after the death of Enric Prat de la Riba, the first president of the Commonwealth of Catalonia. The interview, however, was not published until December 15, 1919, the time needed to bypass censorship. Unfortunately, the magazine where the text appeared, Vila-nova, was a local publication with limited circulation (1). In it, Gaudí concludes by saying that Prat de la Riba’s government had “demonstrated that Catalonia knew how to govern itself within the strictest scarcity of means of government (…) with constant inconveniences, obstacles, pressures from the central State” (see the full text: the interview with Gaudí). Nevertheless, Gaudí’s Catalan identity goes beyond this opinion, involving many other factors. The first of which is the historiography of its study.
An Incomplete and Recent Topic
Gaudí’s connection with Catalonia was so strong that his burial was a massive event, just as those of Jacint Verdaguer, Isaac Albéniz, and Àngel Guimerà had been shortly before (see: the funerals of an era). Despite this, after that funeral, for a long period of time, the architect and even modernism itself fell into a kind of neglect. When interest was revived, Gaudí’s Catalanist side remained buried.
The study of this topic is very recent. One of the first books to address it dates back to 1993: Antoni Gaudí, independentista, by Agustí Giménez i Camins, Edicions C. Another pioneering publication on the subject came out on the eve of the Diada in 2013, in the magazine El Temps. That day, the first extensive report on Torre Bellesguard was published, coinciding with the public opening of this work. The last part of the report carried a significant title: “Gaudí, a censored independentist.” This article, signed by Gemma Aguilera, echoed the aforementioned book and the interview published by the Villa-Nova newspaper, which we mentioned earlier (see the full text: a censored independentist).
Homeland, Faith and Love…
The motto of the Jocs Florals (Floral Games) revived by the Renaixença, the cultural movement experienced by Gaudí and his main friends, patrons, and collaborators, was: “Homeland, Faith and Love.” These three words are, arguably, the best summary of Gaudí’s Catalan identity. Let’s begin with homeland…
Homeland: Cultural Commitment and Civic Resistance
Among the latest publications on Gaudí, one worth highlighting is the 2018 edition by Joan Torres Domènech, once again with a very telling title: El Gaudí que no ens han explicat (The Gaudí They Haven’t Told Us About), Cossetània Edicions. Among the various points it covers, one stands out for breaking the false myth of Gaudí as a mystic detached from the world. Not at all! From his youth, Gaudí showed extraordinary interest in public affairs. For this reason, he actively participated in the main organizations of his time, such as the Associació Catalanista d’Excursions Científiques, and was involved in organizing various cultural events, such as the Jocs Florals of 1883 and 1907 (2).
However, while he gladly accepted responsibilities in organizing cultural events, he avoided official political commitments. When the Lliga Regionalista offered him a spot on their electoral list, he flatly refused. Even so, he signed a manifesto in support of the party and, in the aforementioned interview in Vila-Nova magazine, praised the work of Prat de la Riba, its founder (3).
Nevertheless, when faced with injustice, he never hesitated to protest. For this reason, Gaudí clashed with law enforcement at least four times. The most famous incident was his arrest on September 11, 1924, when he attempted to attend a mass in honor of those who died during the 1714 siege, held at the Church of Saints Just and Pastor (4).
To the question, “Did Gaudí believe in Catalan independence?”, Joan Torres Domènech believes the answer is no. Following Enric Prat de la Riba’s ideas in his book La nacionalitat catalana (1906), Gaudí’s vision of Spain leaned toward federalism (5).
Faith: Critical Spirituality and Religious Catalanism
The motto of the Jocs Florals revived by the Renaixença, the cultural movement experienced by Gaudí and his main friends, patrons, and collaborators, was: “Homeland, Faith and Love.” The second word, faith, is even more complex than the first. If Gaudí’s political stance is already difficult to explain, understanding how it relates to his religious beliefs is even more challenging. To start with, let’s remember that Gaudí wasn’t always so religious (see: From Dandy to Saint). It was only toward the end of his life that his faith deepened. Secondly, as Gemma Aguilera (mentioned earlier) writes, “despite his religiosity, Gaudí did not refrain from criticizing the Church for its lack of Catalan identity” (6). Therefore, Gaudí was very careful about his connections with ecclesiastical circles and didn’t hesitate to speak out when something seemed wrong. In other words, while it’s true that Gaudí put his imagination and talent at the service of the Catholic faith, it’s also true that he internalized and expressed that faith in a deeply personal way.
The main associations Gaudí identified with were the Cercle de Sant Lluc and the Lliga Espiritual de la Mare de Déu, two conservative yet Catalanist organizations founded shortly before Gaudí began work on Torre Bellesguard in 1900. Its promoter, Bishop Torras i Bagués, a personal friend of Gaudí, made the motto famous: “Catalonia will be Christian or it will not be.”
It’s no coincidence that the first owners of Torre Bellesguard, the Figueras family, were also members of these associations. Another non-coincidental detail: La Moreneta, the famous Virgin of Montserrat, had been declared patron saint of Catalonia in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII, and Bellesguard is full of Marian symbols, such as the eight-pointed star on the main façade—a symbol of both the Immaculate Conception and the Three Wise Men. This symbol is surrounded by various versions of the four red stripes of the senyera, with the one atop the pinnacle standing out.
Love: Local and Universal Symbols
The motto of the Jocs Florals revived by the Renaixença, the cultural movement experienced by Gaudí and his main friends, patrons, and collaborators, was: “Homeland, Faith and Love.” Now it’s time to talk about love. Whether or not he was an independentist, whether or not he was drawn to a Catholic Catalonia, what no one can deny is Gaudí’s love for his homeland. Ultimately, what has endured from the architect’s legacy are the symbols born of that love and the ways he expressed it—combining references to nature, history, and the spiritual traditions of the Catalan people.
In all his buildings, Gaudí made this love for Catalonia evident, perhaps most intensely in Torre Bellesguard (see: Bellesguard, Gaudí’s Tribute to Catalonia). A work where not only the symbols speak of Catalonia’s past, but the site itself has been the setting for major historical events, such as the final years of Martí I the Humane, the last member of the House of Barcelona, and Joan Gualbes, one of the heroes of the 1714 siege, buried in the Basilica of Saints Just and Pastor—the church Gaudí was heading to when he was arrested on the 1924 Diada.
Today, Torre Bellesguard keeps this memory alive through its tours and activities. A legacy of homeland, faith, and love that endures in one of its most symbolic settings. In the heart of Catalonia. Bellesguard is not just architecture. It is living history of Catalonia. We are open—come and discover it!
Notes
(1) Redacció (7/06/2025), “Gaudí: Parlar català és un obligat homenatge al nostre origen,” Catorze14. Cultura viva. This article not only explains Gaudí’s ideas but also provides background on the interviewer and other related details.
https://www.catorze.cat/art/gaudi-parlar-catala-es-un-obligat-homenatge-al-nostre-origen_1212643_102.html?srsltid=AfmBOorEsu7giZhCsdtSJ0fteKa7vOJq0xyE2WHfglXnHW0UNSuuJHgp
(2) Torres Domènech, Joan (2018), El Gaudí que no ens han explicat, Cossetània edicions, Valls, p. 85–86.
(3) Ibid. p. 87
(4) Ibid. p. 88–91
(5) Ibid. p. 94
(6) Aguilera, Gemma (10/9/2013), “Gaudí, un independentista censurat,” El Temps, p. 29.
