Gaudí-built school in Barcelona faces parent backlash over museum plan

A private school in Barcelona has a problem: It was built by Gaudí and is now set to become a museum attraction. Parents fear chaos.

Published: 23 July 2026, 11:16

Oriol Segarra likes to use football comparisons. "We don't know if they want to play in the Champions League or the Third Division," says the chairman of the parents' association of the Col·legi de les Teresianes school. The Catholic private school on Ganduxer Street in the Sant Gervasi-Galvany district—one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Barcelona—belongs to the Order of Santa Teresa de Jesús and was built from 1888 to 1890 by none other than the most famous Catalan-Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudí.

And this is precisely where the problem begins. The school administration now wants to have a museum set up in the building complex from the neo-Gothic phase of the architectural star, operated by a private company, 100 years after Gaudí's death. "The experience of the latest generation of museum technology," promises the future operating company. The opening is scheduled for 2028.

Everything looks more like a Champions League museum than one that wants to play in the third division. It is to use several currently vacant halls and, in addition to an exhibition, invite visitors to virtual activities. The press mentions 3,000 square meters, freely accessible gardens, and access to the central courtyard. Anyone who visits the website of the operating company IngeniaCultura will find that it specializes less in museums than in cultural leisure activities.

Dozens of parents protested in front of the school building in mid-June. "We are not a museum, we are a school" could be read on their protest signs. They fear mass tourism. Because where Gaudí is advertised in Barcelona—such as at the Sagrada Família church, Park Güell, or the Casa Batlló and La Pedrera buildings—thousands of visitors flock daily. Noise, garbage, and pickpockets would be the consequence if this were to happen with the school, the parents fear.

Vatican gives green light for plans

Over 1,200 children attend the Col·legi de les Teresianes, from kindergarten to high school. Segarra, father of four children at the school, emphasizes that the building is one of Gaudí's lesser-known works. The architect received the commission directly from the order's founder, Saint Enric d'Ossó. The famous and elegant corridors with vaults and parabolic arches—which until now, for those without children at the school, could only be admired in photos—are just one of many spiritual details with which Gaudí adorned the building. "Gaudí and Spirituality" is therefore also to be the theme of the museum, which has now been approved by the Vatican.

The 44-year-old economist Segarra is still refraining from overly strong criticism despite all the alarming press reports. "The parents' association must first know all the details, the fine print, before we take a definitive stance," he says. If a Champions League museum were to emerge, he fears for the peace and safety of the children and announces resistance. A small, discreet museum that fits into everyday school life, on the other hand, he considers acceptable.

Just on the morning of the interview with taz, Segarra and the other parents had to read this in the Catalan daily newspaper Ara: "The maintenance of this jewel is very costly, and controlled visits would solve the financial problem. [...] The bonfires on WhatsApp should not prevent us from listening to the reasons of the Teresian nuns," the newspaper from the progressive independence camp defends the order's plans. Only a large museum is, in this sense, acceptable.