They don’t want us to see it being repaired papier mâché.

I’d also like to see the work being done. They do a similar thing in Italy, too, hanging a picture of building in front of the scaffolding when it’s being renovated – but the whole building. I wonder whether the execs responsible for this kind of thing think tourists will stop coming if they ‘see’ the construction works. Tbh I can fully believe the suits making these decisions to be so bereft of artistic appreciation that they think others are like them and won’t really notice the difference between a picture and the real thing.

We may be looking at the same contradiction that leads museums and galleries to obsess over original pieces, even though the curators are often duped by replicas or try to dupe the public with replicas.

Back to the topic in hand: have you read Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth or The Evening and the Morning?

Yeah, surprised that anyone would think this is the Sagrada, imo the Sagrada is unmistakeable and instantly recognizable seeing as it is the ugliest cathedral ever built…