The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began construction on its second temple in Spain with a groundbreaking ceremony on September 19 in Sant Cugat del Vallès, according to a Church Newsroom release. Approximately 500 Church members, community representatives, nongovernmental organizations and religious leaders attended the event, while congregations across Spain, Andorra and southern France watched a broadcast.
Elder James W. McConkie III, a General Authority Seventy and counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency, offered the groundbreaking prayer. He described the temple as “the house of the Lord, a place where heaven and earth meet.”
Elder McConkie expressed hope that “the Barcelona Spain Temple be built and dedicated in such a way that the people of Barcelona feel this truth and are drawn to a place where God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, can be present in a tangible way.” The Church of Jesus Christ plans to construct the temple on a 2.2-hectare site north of Barcelona.
A Second Temple for Spain
Plans call for a two-story temple of approximately 2,555 square meters, along with patron housing, an arrival center, a distribution center and a large garden. The new house of the Lord will join the Madrid Spain Temple, which Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated in March 1999.
For many Latter-day Saints in Spain, temple worship has required hours of travel or trips across national borders. The Barcelona temple will place a house of the Lord closer to Church members in Spain, Andorra and France.
Natalia Santidrián Bernal remembers traveling four hours by bus from Zaragoza to attend the Madrid temple when she was young. She was a child when that temple opened in 1999, and the Barcelona temple will now stand much closer to the area where she grew up.
“Whenever I need help from heaven, I try to go to the temple,” Natalia said. She compared the groundbreaking with the total solar eclipse visible across Spain on August 12, when many residents paused their routines and looked toward the sky.
“I think they are similar in that, during the eclipse, everyone was looking up and trying to see what was happening,” Natalia said. “And with the temple, we also look to the sky and think about what is happening and what it means.”
Families Recall Long Journeys to Worship
Maria dels Àngels Fernández also grew up traveling a considerable distance to reach a temple. After her parents joined the Church, her family rode a bus for 12 hours to Zollikofen, Switzerland, where they participated in a ceremony that Latter-day Saints believe can unite families beyond death.
That childhood experience remained with Maria as plans for a temple in Barcelona took shape. “Having a temple here is an incredible dream come true,” she said.
Maria now lives about 25 minutes from the temple site, a change that sharply reduces the distance her family must travel. “Having the temple twenty-five minutes from my home — I can’t even describe it. It still hasn’t fully sunk in. It is a tremendous privilege to have the house of the Lord built here,” she said.
Her husband, Jordi Walter Lacuey, also connected the temple with the identity of Catalonia. He described the region as culturally distinct from other parts of Spain and said the new building carries both religious and cultural meaning.
“We are in a very special place, where the culture is somewhat distinct from the rest of Spain; having a temple here in our midst — aside from its spiritual meaning — also has cultural significance,” Jordi said. The Church announced the Barcelona Spain Temple on April 3, 2022, through President Russell M. Nelson.
From Early Converts to a Growing Church
The history of the Church in Spain began decades before congregations formed within the country. Melitón González Trejo, a native of Spain’s Cáceres province, traveled from the Philippines to Utah to investigate the Church and received baptism in 1874, then became one of the principal translators of the Book of Mormon into Spanish for its 1886 publication.
Barcelona also played an early role in the development of the Church in Spain. In 1948, 16-year-old Jordi Ventura wrote to Church headquarters seeking information about its beliefs, and he and his brother-in-law, Luis Moreno, became the first resident Spaniards to receive baptism in 1950.
American military personnel and their families began holding the first Latter-day Saint group meetings in Spain in 1956. After the Spanish Parliament enacted a law granting religious liberty to non-Catholic churches in 1967, Church members organized the first Spanish branch in Madrid on January 7, 1968.
The Spanish government formally recognized the Church later that year, and Elder Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Spain for the preaching of the gospel on May 20, 1969. The first full-time missionaries arrived the following month, and the Church organized the Spain Mission in 1970.
Church membership in Spain passed 1,000 in 1974 and 20,000 in 1990. The Madrid Spain Stake, the country’s first stake, began in 1982, one year after the Church published the Book of Mormon in Catalan.
The Church opened a missionary training center in Madrid in 1999, where missionaries studied Spanish, Portuguese, English, Russian, Italian and French. In 2003, the Spanish government granted the Church “Notorio Arraigo” status, a designation for religious organizations with a substantial presence in the country that provided additional legal rights.
Today, approximately 72,000 Church members worship in 150 congregations across Spain. Europe has 25 temples in operation, under construction, undergoing renovation or announced, including 12 currently operating temples.
A House of Worship in Catalonia
Latter-day Saints regard temples as sacred houses of worship where they make covenants with God and participate in ceremonies intended to strengthen families and help them draw closer to Jesus Christ. The Barcelona temple will give members in the surrounding region greater access to those ordinances and a place where they can seek peace and spiritual guidance.
Elder McConkie connected those purposes with qualities historically associated with Barcelona. “Barcelona was once aptly described as a place of courtesy, hospitality, refuge, friendship, generosity of spirit, and beauty. Temples exemplify these attributes and help foster them in the lives of those who worship within them,” he said.
“Having a temple — or house of the Lord — in Barcelona is a fitting tribute to the good people of this excellent city and region,” Elder McConkie concluded. Following his prayer, participants broke ground at the Sant Cugat del Vallès site where the Church will construct Spain’s second temple.
How would having a temple closer to home make a difference for you and your family? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Holly Wallace is a writer and storyteller drawn to meaningful questions and overlooked details. Her work explores Latter-day Saint life and culture through faithful inquiry, inviting readers to pause, consider, and engage more deeply with what matters most.
