The Sagrada Familia is set to become the tallest religious building in Europe when the latest stage in its decades-long construction - the raising of six new towers - is complete. The Antoni Gaudi-designed cathedral, which already dominates the Barcelona skyline, will take the mantle from the Ulm Minster in Germany when the highest of its towers is in place. The Tower of Jesus Christ will be 172.5 meters tall, according to the cathedral's chief architect, Jordi Fauli, who announced that his aim was to have the new towers in place by 2026 - the centenary of Gaudi's death. In what is one of the longest-running construction projects undertaken, the foundation stones of the Sagrada Familia were first laid 133 years ago in 1882. Mr Fauli, who became the chief architect in 2012, declined to give an absolute date for the building's eventual completion. "It's difficult to predict but we can say that it will be completed by 2030, 2032," he said. He said that about 70 per cent of the construction was completed. In March of this year the cathedral chief architect announced that 3D printers 3D models of the building, following Gaudi's designs. The announcement coincided with the beginning of the final phase of raising the six towers. The Tower of Jesus Christ will be crowned by a cross at its highest point, while the other five towers are dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the four apostles. The main tower is designed to rise above the cathedral's central chamber, which until 15 years ago did not even have a roof. Only one of the facades was completed by the time of Gaudi's death in 1926. St Peter's Basilica in Rome will remain the tallest internal religious structure in Europe. The Sagrada Familia has survived the Spanish Civil War, the Franco dictatorship and the meltdown of the Spanish economy during the recent debt crisis. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cathedral annually attracts more than 3.2 million visitors, who help to pay for the annual construction budget of US$ 28 million.

The Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain, has been under construction for more than 130 years, but now thanks to the 21st century technology of 3D printing, the 19th century project may finally be completed by 2026. This is perhaps one of the longest active construction projects on the planet. Construction work began in 1882, but only a quarter of the church was completed at the time of his death in 1926. Although there is still much work left to be done to complete Gaudi's vision, the church is already structurally sound, open to the public, and completely stunning, reported BBC. In part because of its long lifespan, this project has captivated architects and designers since its inception. What delights folks now is the amazing progress that 3D printing has enabled the present-day architecture team to stay as true as possible to the intent of the design's original creator. Project leaders began using 3D printing in 2001, but the technology has advanced so much in recent years that it is now more useful and accurate than ever. Chief architect Jordi Coll believes that Gaudi himself would have been a great proponent of 3D-printed architecture. "Due to the complexity of surfaces and forms, working with Gaudi's designs in 2D does not make sense from an architectural point of view," he said, as quoted by 3D Systems. "If Gaudi was alive today, he would have brought 3D technology to its maximum exponent, since much of his work was already conceived tri-dimensionally." Due to the scale of the project, Sagrada Familia has its own technical studio which acquired two 3D printers to help with the construction. The printers are being used, in large part, to reconstruct 3D models of the building, following Gaudi's designs. The original plaster models created from Gaudi's 2D drawings were almost completely destroyed by vandals during the Spanish Civil War, along with most of his writings and photographs. Architects are working hard to use modern technology to piece back together Gaudi's design, and the progress they've made on the building has most visitors feeling like they must be doing a good job.

A luxury villa in Majorca where Diana, Princess of Wales once stayed has been put on the market for US$ 52 million, making it the most expensive property on the island. Castillo Mallorca, located on its own private peninsula has been put up for sale by German-based real estate agents Engel and Voelkers. The 1,400-square meter property is about 20 minutes from Majorca's capital Palma de Mallorca. The villa includes a sauna, gym, piano lounge and billiards room. The main house - there is also a guest house - contains a "Lady Diana" suite which is where the princess stayed. Guest houses, a swimming pool, gardens and terraces also feature in 6,000 square meters of land. Despite Castillo Mallorca's heavy price tag the agents handing the property are pretty confident about a sale. There had already been interest from Chinese, Swiss and Spanish buyers, he added. "This is a unique property in a unique location and we think the current German owner will get something very close to the asking price," a spokesperson for Engel and Voelkers told The Local.

A plan to create a giant casino complex - called Eurovegas - near Madrid has collapsed after disagreements between the developer and Spanish authorities. US casino operator Las Vegas Sands has pulled out of the US$ 30 billion project which included six casinos, 12 hotels and many shops. On July 25, 2013 the corporation officially registered plans to build a sprawling resort known as "Eurovegas" outside the Spanish capital Madrid, but now it was cancelled. Directly and indirectly the project was supposed to create up to 250,000 posts. That was an important selling point in Spain where the jobless rate currently stands at 27%. However Spanish authorities would not agree to several demands from the US Company. Las Vegas Sands wanted the government to insure it against future changes in policy which could damage the resort's profitability, as well as a lower tax on gambling. There was also a disagreement over smoking at the resort, with Las Vegas Sands asking for the resort to be exempted from Spanish rules on smoking. At a news conference after the government's weekly cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said: "New conditions were put forward concerning taxes and legal protection ... which could not be taken on board by the administrations involved," "The government needs to preserve the general interests of all Spaniards," she said. In a statement, Las Vegas Sands chief executive Sheldon Adelson said: "While the government and many others have worked diligently on this effort, we do not see a path in which the criteria needed to move forward with this large-scale development can be reached. "Developing integrated resorts in Europe has been a vision of mine for years, but there is a time and place for everything and right now our focus is on encouraging Asian countries, like Japan and Korea, to dramatically enhance their tourism offering through the development of integrated resorts there." Madrid was selected as the location for the resort after a long battle with Barcelona, which also coveted the investment. The casino complex has been opposed by several groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, which argued the development would encourage prostitution and crime.

The 200 meter high "InTempo" towers in Benidorm were built as 'a vision of the future' and a symbol of Spain's reemergence from a crippling financial crisis. With 47 floors of living space it was intended to be the tallest residential building in Europe. But with only months until it is due for completion, contractors have hit upon a slight problem. They forgot to build a lift. The towers were originally designed to be only 20 floors high, but ambitious developers decided to double the scale of the project midway through. A lift exists for the first 20 floors, but beyond that there is only the stairs. And reports seen by Spain's El Pais newspaper suggest there is no more space for another lift or motor equipment. It is only the latest in a series of setbacks which have beset the project. It was due to open in 2009, but now joins a series of white elephants that have been caused by the country's deep recession. Furore over the Benidorm towers has grown in recent weeks, after the team of architects left. El Pais was given access to documents which revealed the extent of the catastrophes that have beset the tourist town's biggest project. The newspaper reports that not only did construction workers go for four months without pay in 2010, but they were also forced to walk up and down the half-constructed towers for months as a service lift was not built until the first 23 stories had been completed. The lift that was eventually installed collapsed in July 2011, injuring 13 workers. Ambulances reportedly struggled to reach them, because the area surrounding the construction site had not been cleared for vehicle access in an alleged bid to save money. The architects have resigned, despite the last eight floors - which will unite the two neighboring towers with communal gardens and pools - remaining incomplete. And amid further financial problems, the building has now been taken over by Spain's so-called 'bad bank', which was set up to consolidate the country's most toxic assets. In what has come to symbolize the madness of Spanish boom-time investment, the original bank investor Caixa Galicia asked the developer to raise just 3000 euro in capital in return for it offering 93 million euro towards to the project. Despite plans to open the twin towers to great fanfare in 2009, the block remains only 94 per cent complete. Only 35 per cent of the 269 units have been sold. It is now expected to be finished in December of this year, and the remaining flats will go on sale at a lower price.