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leading source analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt causing some cities to declare a state of emergency and evacuate their inhabitants and rivers have been seen overflowing in large areas of central and northern Spain a state of emergency was declared due to flooding after the Adaja and Chico rivers overflowed several roads have been closed as the alert remains in place due to the flooding of the Manzanares River the municipality of Mejorada del Campo had to evacuate 48 people due to the flooding of the Jarama and Henares rivers police are still searching for a motorcyclist who disappeared four days ago Footage from the Guardia Civil police force showed officers wading through a river near the town of Pujerra in search of the missing man Spain has faced a severe drought in recent years however in the past two weeks steady rainfall especially in the south has overwhelmed reservoirs and riverbanks officials are releasing water from the El Pardo reservoir to prevent flooding emergency crews have set up flood barriers around a hospital for paraplegic patients as the Tagus River continues to rise Authorities say they are ready to evacuate residents if needed Scientists and officials link these swings between drought and heavy rain to climate change which is also making Spain’s summers hotter The Portuguese automotive retail operator Salvador Caetano Auto and the logistics provider Kuehne+Nagel signed a collaboration agreement for after-sales logistics the companies developed a solution for the storage and distribution of spare parts fostering Salvador Caetano’s expansion into the Spanish market Value added services include a “next day before 10 am” delivery option The logistics operations are executed from the fulfilment centre of Mejorada del Campo (Madrid) This activity serves a network of 37 repair centres across Spain Orders are packed in recycled materials such as cardboard in alignment with Salvador Caetano’s sustainability objectives “One of our pillars is to have an efficient after-sales service which facilitates customer experience avoiding long lead times thanks to the availability of parts in a location close to all our repair centres,” says Ignacio Román “This agreement with Kuehne+Nagel materialises our strategy aiming at collaborating with the best partners to offer the best service.” “We are thrilled to support an automotive industry leader as Salvador Caetano Our extensive experience in spare part logistics supports the Group to deliver the best experience to their customers” Contract Logistics Director of Kuehne+Nagel Spain With over 80,000 employees at almost 1,300 sites in close to 100 countries the Kuehne+Nagel Group is one of the world’s leading logistics providers Kuehne+Nagel is listed in the Swiss blue-chip stock market index The Group is the global number one in air and sea logistics and has strong market positions in road and contract logistics Kuehne+Nagel is the logistics partner of choice for 400,000 customers worldwide logistics expertise and data-based insights the Group provides end-to-end supply chain solutions for global companies and industries As a member of the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) Kuehne+Nagel is committed to sustainable logistics by reducing its own environmental footprint and by supporting its customers with low-carbon logistics solutions a former monk toiled almost single-handedly on an extraordinary building outside Madrid Justo Gallego Martínez said he would show me his grave The old man was warming his hands by a stove in the dim back room of his cathedral The shelves and tables were full of relics A bare hanging bulb cast the room in jaundiced light signalling around him to the cathedral’s cavernous nave and the 20 trembling towers sprawled across thousands of square feet of his own land on the outskirts of Madrid The cathedral’s crypt would be his burial place And he’d be buried there because it was his cathedral without a single measurement or calculation on paper without a record of any of the materials he’d used I sat near Justo in the gloom and watched as the fire nearby threw shadows across his sunken eyes and recessed temples Justo winched himself up from his seat and led me out the door to the ambulatory His baggy blue coat hung from his frame like wet clothes on a washing line The nave lurched around 45 metres to our left covered by a half-barrel vault whose exposed beams curved upwards like a whale’s ribcage The rest of the cathedral was an architectural Frankenstein’s monster propped up on mismatched bricks plastic and excessive quantities of concrete Large chunks of the building were already in decay In the aisles dusty cement bags were piled as high as the first-floor gallery chicken carcasses and plastic bags fossilised in pigeon shit It sprawled over an area the size of a football pitch Justo Gallego Martínez’s cathedral in 2016 Photograph: Francisco de Casa/AlamyJusto didn’t look up or down He shuffled over the slippery marble tiles to the altar at the back of the apse passing by a lifesize crucifix cast in white plaster the floor opened to the darkness of the crypt below I had lived in Spain for almost six years before I heard about Justo I came across an article in a local paper about an ex-monk building a cathedral in Mejorada del Campo Justo Gallego Martínez had been constructing a cathedral that was almost the size of the Sagrada Familia Since then he had fought with family members made enemies and won an adoring international public He had never gained formal permission to build the structure The Official College of Architects of Madrid had confirmed that “not even the preliminary papers [for registration] have been submitted” Justo Gallego at work on the building’s roof in 2014 Photograph: Denis Doyle/Getty ImagesRepresentatives from the Catholic church would later tell me that it is too expensive and complicated a project to take on And the provincial government maintained that it didn’t have the money to renovate it to standard There was concern among the locals that the cathedral might be torn down Several months after reading about Justo for the first time I found myself standing next to this bewildering man I realised that he was a mess of incongruities but had done everything to make himself discoverable Justo’s early life was marked by religious fervour “She was the one that taught me the words of the Bible,” he said he had to leave school to escape the dangers of the Spanish civil war His mother’s teachings were a vital part of the little education that Justo would receive The young man had always dreamed of dedicating his life to God When he travelled to Madrid to run errands he would roam the capital’s streets searching for a woman more beautiful than the Virgin Mary the boy chose to consecrate his life to the Virgin and remain a virgin himself – a man of God he entered the monastery of Santa María de Huerta in Soria Many of his fellow monks found him strident and difficult; he would work longer hours than necessary and often pray into the night he even refused to drink the wine during communion “They were very suspicious of me,” he once told local journalists Justo at work in the cathedral in 2018 Photograph: Denis DobrovodaSeven years after he entered the monastery He travelled to Madrid to recuperate in hospital his brother monks did not allow him back in I once asked Justo whether he thought this had to do with his extremism or his illness Justo told me that after he was rejected from the monastery he went to Mejorada del Campo and fell into a “funk” He no longer knew how to dedicate his life to God not even his friends; he thought only of God and the Virgin Mary Where would he channel his religious fervour What could he do with himself that would mean anything It was in the midst of this self-questioning that it came to him – the idea to build something for his creator: a cathedral which would demonstrate his willingness to sacrifice himself for God scaled scaffolding with no harness and soldered with no mask he would suddenly remember the holy trinity visual experiences with God,” Francisco Martinez Justo came from a relatively well-off family who owned land near Madrid he sold much of it to fund the construction of his church A factory in a nearby village supplied concrete while another offered broken tiles and discarded bricks Justo hated sharp angles and straight lines and tried to avoid them at all costs He preferred curves and circles – vaulted ceilings To make circles he would bend metal rods around columns and draw around circular water drums or tins of paint They were expensive and had little tolerance for error A millimetre of imprecision in one step could culminate in a spiral staircase that didn’t quite reach its landing Justo inside the cathedral in 2014 Photograph: Denis Doyle/Getty ImagesThe curve Justo loved most was the dome which was modelled on St Peter’s basilica in Rome With large blue metal girders curving up to a pressure ring at its centre it looked like a mechanical spider atop the nave The dome took him 30 years to imagine and seven years to build It is the only thing I ever heard him boast about “You won’t find anything like this in Madrid,” he’d say he replied with barely comprehensible stories about spindly scaffolding 250 metres high when I asked him how he had actually built it Justo merely said he had managed it through a combination of determination and prayer Justo made up for his technical shortcomings by devising strange solutions He piled empty paint cans on top of one another and filled them with concrete to make columns He bent corrugated iron rods and fed them through slinky-like springs to create the structure for arches piling them up like mismatched books to the height of the support beams 0:56Aerial footage shows Justo Gallego Martínez's cathedral – video Justo was often compared to Gaudí “His stuff is completely over the top!” Justo told me Spain was ruled by a dictatorship that exalted deeply conservative Catholic values except that the dictatorship also brought with it an atmosphere of paranoia and suspicion most of the villagers declared him an outcast “He was the type of person dressed in a winter coat in the summer and summer clothing in the winter,” recalled one local resident Justo was the kind of man who didn’t fit in “It’s easy to overcome people’s judgment,” he once told Spanish television He was just unwilling to submit to what most people considered normal He didn’t need love or approbation because he had purpose but they fell out over money and Justo found himself in debt Justo said he had to move into the cathedral full-time After living and working alongside the old man beefy labourer from Guadalajara – he had an epiphany and renounced his former life to move into the cathedral with Justo He sold his apartment and paid a large chunk of Justo’s debt Photograph: Denis DobrovodaDuring the three years I spent visiting Justo’s cathedral Sometimes he would speak to me as if I was his accomplice whispering to me in conspiratorial tones; at other times he treated me as an incompetent foreigner who barely understood Spanish He would be out hunting rabbits or at the bank He was not filled with Justo’s religious fervour he could also be unenthusiastic about the cathedral’s future there is no plan,” he said when I asked him about it Why had Justo rejected the help of so many other people for so long squawking and squabbling their way into getting nothing done Perhaps Justo feared that if he had taken on a more able helper Perhaps Ángel’s ordinariness allowed Justo to stay in control longer But I also had to check my cynicism with reality I saw that Ángel always made Justo’s lunch and dinner He would take him to the doctors and to mass every Sunday Justo’s feverish devotion emerged as something more than just eccentricity The cathedral was becoming more significant than any of the locals could have imagined Soon there was interest from local newspapers photographs of Justo’s cathedral appeared in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York Justo declined the invitation to travel to the US because The cathedral became even more famous in 2005 when it appeared in an advertisement for a new soft drink made by the Coca-Cola Company Justo only agreed to the advert to get funds to continue building Justo had no idea of the consequences of his decision: “I didn’t know it was going to be on TV I thought they were just going to print something on the side of the can.” There was an irony to the advert’s success While Justo had tried to embody temperance and humility one of the world’s biggest brands had turned his abnegation of the ego into the exact opposite – a celebration of individual accomplishment The ad had made his faith synonymous with ambition Photograph: Sam Jones/The GuardianOver the years tens of thousands of people have come to visit the cathedral pilgrims accost him and fanatics pitch him with all manner of schemes for the future of the cathedral People often talked about him in saintly terms an architect who helped Justo at the cathedral recalled witnessing an accident: “I was working in the crypt Justo tripped over a stone and fell and smashed his head on the ground hard … But [he] just got up Justo often found all the attention difficult He would get angry and clash with visitors He would call them “scoundrels” and make them delete their photos He would berate women who came in wearing short skirts He put up signs saying he was not to be spoken to a Madrid-based artist who painted the cathedral’s murals remembered when a young woman visited the cathedral and told Justo how impressed she was with him Justo interrupted her: ‘You use the word I a lot don’t you?’ The young woman went quiet and began to blush He wanted to keep its significance tied to God and failed to understand how it moved and inspired those who came to see it As the cathedral’s wobbly towers began to rise above the drab uniformity of Mejorada del Campo Justo wasn’t able to figure out why he could no longer control his story When one of the Coca-Cola executives who had commissioned the ad returned to the cathedral in 2019 to visit Justo – having not seen him since the shoot in 2005 – he found a man and an attitude he was not expecting Justo told him that the advertisement had only brought him problems “He told me he wished it hadn’t happened.” and his undiagnosed dementia progressed more quickly He laughed less and made less sense when he talked He spent most of his time sitting in an old office chair in his gloomy personal quarters A puddle of bloated lentils and a hollowed-out baguette often sat at his side kindling or anything that would burn into his rickety wood-burning stove picking up a piece of wood and inspecting it dragging a pile of stones to nowhere in particular He might then sit in another chair on the balcony that led to the cloisters boyish enthusiasm that transcended generations and our respective beliefs I felt our relationship evolved beyond its initial awkwardness It was a half-truth; they were baptised agnostics like me “But have you studied the catechisms?” he asked again Photograph: Denis DobrovodaAnother time I remember being in Justo’s dingy backroom “You have to read The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis,” Justo told me excitedly one of the most important devotional Christian texts ever published preaches that a good Christian should live an interior life by renouncing all that is vain and illusory It was Justo’s second Bible.) He retrieved a battered copy from a nearby shelf littered with nuts I began to read: “How undisturbed a conscience we would have if we never went searching after ephemeral joys nor concern ourselves with affairs of the world.” Justo stood back The book seemed to be giving him sustenance and greater joy than Justo just seemed lost in his cathedral and in his ailing head the cathedral was in a precarious situation The prospect of his death threatened to leave behind an administrative mess after all – it didn’t exist on any register And over the years it had swollen into a sprawling mass of iron and concrete with its gangly cloisters and crooked towers encroaching on the surrounding buildings No architect was willing to sign off on its structural soundness Anyone who vouched for its stability would be liable for any damages incurred by visitors The local government was afraid that it might fall and so would not give it administrative approval and neither the town hall nor the local diocese appeared willing to invest anything in solving it When I talked to the vicar in charge of the diocese’s architectural projects He said he wanted to set up a foundation to raise funds to save it he couldn’t say whether or not it would be used for religious purposes When I asked Ángel what he would do when Justo passed away “I don’t want to think about the day that Justo is no longer here,” he said But locals and people farther afield still recognised the importance of the cathedral YouTube is filled with young vloggers rhapsodising about it There are regular articles in the Spanish national press providing updates on the building’s legal situation Unesco representatives even paid a visit in early 2020 attempts to legalise the structure had progressed slowly It looked likely that Justo would not live to see his cathedral saved Justo and Ángel donated the cathedral to an organisation known as Mensajeros de la Paz or “Messengers of Peace,” a Catholic NGO that helps the poor in more than 50 countries He had started the organisation by himself and had grown it into one of the biggest Catholic NGOs in the world Padre Ángel from Mensajeros de la Paz to whom Justo donated the cathedral in 2021 Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty ImagesDesperate for a solution Justo and Ángel had asked the organisation to take care of the church He decided to take on the building – no matter how much it would cost no matter how difficult an undertaking it might be The organisation swiftly moved in to the cathedral They also sent in some of Spain’s top structural engineers it’s as if he’s invented architecture in his head,” one of them marvelled to me Though they couldn’t be sure the cathedral was completely stable they were surprised by how carefully it had been built I felt that the organisation’s involvement could be overbearing Justo was disappearing from his own cathedral I sensed the cathedral’s future was out of his hands The nave was now decked out with the Messengers’ paraphernalia: huge posters depicting the pope had been hung either side of the main altar the Messenger’s maxims were written on the walls and a makeshift food bank had been placed in the central nave The Messengers also announced that they wanted it to be an open religious space where Muslims Orthodox Christians and Catholics could congregate and discuss religion I knew that Justo had fought for many years for his cathedral to be consecrated as a Catholic place of worship Conscious of how antiquated and conservative Justo could be I wondered if he’d be horrified at the Messengers’ vision and I wanted to know what he thought of the cathedral’s new guardians Propped up by a pillow on a hospital bed in his newly decorated bedroom Justo’s voice was higher than when I’d last seen him and other times angry about what had happened Over the following days, as I witnessed meetings over the cathedral’s fate and saw how frail Justo had become, I felt sad that he had to be part of these discussions and tensions. After all, notions of posterity were in many ways anathema to him – legacy was vanity, and vanity was the devil. I was taken back to that late spring evening at the end of my first visit to the cathedral, with Justo standing precariously close to his grave. He had seemed nonchalant, as if it were normal to pre-empt one’s death. “I’m ready for the end,” he mumbled, still staring out at the courtyard. Read moreJusto told me he had long been content with his efforts Perfection was really only the mask of ambition His cathedral was full of half-baked ideas It was the inside of Justo’s head rendered in iron and concrete “We are only in transit here on this earth,” he said “What happens to the cathedral is now no longer up to me,” he said Justo Gallego Martínez died on 28 November 2021 A longer version of this article first appeared in the online magazine Hazlitt. A film about Justo’s life by Matthew Bremner and Denis Dobrovoda, The Cathedral will premiere at Krakow film festival on 31 May Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, listen to our podcasts here and sign up to the long read weekly email here This is the latest installment of Public Streets, a biweekly urban observations series curated by Ellis Avery The 21st-century traveler is chronically late: the cathedrals are all built if by some historical accident left unfinished buried under construction cranes licensed to invisible corporations No one has met the architects who conceived of the cathedrals or the laborers who laid the bricks decade after decade; today imagining how these monuments were made is as difficult as imagining how Shakespeare found inspiration for his plays That’s what makes it remarkable to visit the still-evolving cathedral of Mejorada del Campo all one and the same: Don Justo Gallego Martínez a modern cathedral architect who seems someone out of Europe’s medieval past Don Justo has no special training in architecture; he’s learned what he knows through trial and error where his formal education was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War Though he takes inspiration from exotic sources like the Vatican and the White House Don Justo was already unusual before he embarked upon building a cathedral by himself yet he proved too hard-core even for those most hard-core of Christians As one of his contemporaries explained in the documentary The Madman and the Cathedral “He didn’t fit in because he fasted too much and we were worried about his health—above all his mental health.” When Don Justo returned to Madrid to seek treatment for tuberculosis Don Justo began to collect broken bricks from a nearby factory his cathedral is large enough to contain two sacristies Photograph by Cruccone / Wikimedia Commons Perhaps it’s his unusual background that allows Don Justo to be so original: though inspired by Romanesque architecture which he describes as “románico descargado,” the Romanesque made weightless “The Romanesque is the most beautiful there is,” he says “But you have to unburden it … a lot of columns and light with one glance you can see everything.” He thinks you don’t have to be an expert on medieval art to appreciate the cathedral: “It gets [even] to uneducated people,” he says “It fills you up” is a curious choice of words when what’s most striking about the cathedral is its uncanny emptiness: all of the rooms have been started Don Justo’s work habits might baffle most 21st-century architects accustomed to large crews of workers and rigorous schedules I don’t finish anything ever.” The towers are merely skeletal outlines of towers topped with intricate fortress-sized storks’ nests that Don Justo not only allows but encourages by supplying the birds with sticks neglecting his own cathedral to help the storks build theirs the jagged cinderblocks are clearly visible in the walls that scaffold the cathedral’s second story and glint half-buried inside the clay stairs Some of the windows don’t fill the holes that were made for them letting you see into the apartment building next door where the Disney pajamas of Don Justo’s less anachronistic neighbors hang on laundry lines The 25 domes that ornament the roof are mid-thatch some all but completely covered with feather-like wafers of zinc and others It has been necessary to cover the altar that stands below the principal dome although as of yet there is nothing on the altar to protect: the elegant marble pedestal stands empty making a strange contrast with the half-started rooms: the patio outside the cathedral’s front door is floored with mosaic But the ground is so uneven that rainwater has collected at the base of the cross and discolored it and in the Middle Ages people knew how to recycle taking apart previous houses of worship to make new ones To Don Justo’s other medieval building practices one can add that he relies upon donated and recycled materials The dome is unfinished because Don Justo is waiting to hear back from some potential donors who offered to get him the zinc he needs to cover it Swatches of paint cover the floor (as do the footprints of visitors who have carelessly stepped in it while wet) with no discernable pattern; the paint was donated and Don Justo used whatever he had to hand The ornaments that decorate the cathedral feel just as haphazard: stone angels with broken skirts swing down crookedly from exposed wires movie theater seats with torn upholstery stand in the middle of the cloister among dusty cables and other building materials an old-fashioned glass lantern and an empty red-and-yellow birdcage topped by two kitschy paintings of Jesus Christ So had a stained printout of the Oraciones of Saint Faustina—a nun who had difficulties adapting to monastic life and suffered from tuberculosis The printout had been labeled “34” by hand then abandoned under a canvas of the Last Supper that was sitting on the floor Photograph courtesy of James Blick / Flickr Visiting Mejorada del Campo also brings home that travelling used to be a lot more thrilling One corridor is guarded not by security cameras but by what a sign describes as a “DANGEROUS DOG.” The barking will follow you all the way to the sacristy WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ACCIDENTS,” warns another sign The cathedral’s second story is made up of convex steps each littered with broken glass and too narrow to comfortably support a human foot when a strong wind whips through the skeletal dome overhead and many of the waist-high pillars that separate you from a fall are broken The light that filters through the roof’s bare bones and the walks high above it all on rickety staircases are all remarkable the most remarkable thing about Mejorada del Campo is perhaps Don Justo himself You’ll find him at work wearing house slippers tied to his ankles with gauze and a red scarf tied around his neck or belted around his waist like a monk’s sash He might be gathering sticks for the storks or discussing the chemistry of the stained glass with Angel López and informal publicity manager for the last two decades  He might be teasing a local volunteer (“Aren’t you going to be married here someday?”) or being teased by one (“Isn’t there already a waiting list?”) You might even be able to ask him a question about how he manages to keep going The zeal for your house will consume me,” he might say Photograph by tomasz przechlewski / Flickr Face to face with a man who’s lived nine-tenths of a century you might lack the courage to ask the inevitable question: does he think he’ll see the cathedral finished in his lifetime The earliest cathedrals were under construction for centuries during which the architects died before seeing their work completed as did the artisans who toiled day after day and beginning again until they died and were replaced by other artisans contributing incrementally to a project that would outlive them It would be easy to lament Don Justo’s fate if he were to die before finishing the cathedral What would a man of such faith do—the last Romanesque cathedral perfected and the storks all driven off to other Subscribe to RSS Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker For more than 60 years, former monk Justo Gallego had been building a cathedral out of scrap materials on the outskirts of Madrid, a project he would never see completed. The 96-year-old died over the weekend, but left the unfinished complex in Mejorada del Campo to a charity run by a priest that has vowed to complete his labor of love. Gallego began the project in 1961, when he was in his mid-30s, on land inherited from his family after a bout of tuberculosis forced him to leave an order of Trappist monks. Today, the “Cathedral of Justo” features a crypt, two cloisters and 12 towers spread over 4,700m2, although the central dome still does not have a cover. He used bricks, wood and other materials scavenged from old building sites, as well as through donations that began to arrive once the project became better known. The building’s pillars are made from stacked oil drums, while windows have been cobbled and glued together from shards of colored glass. “Recycling is fashionable now, but he used it 60 years ago when nobody talked about it,” said Juan Carlos Arroyo, an engineer and architect with engineering firm Calter. The charity that is taking over the project, “Messengers of Peace,” hired the company to assess the structural soundness of the building, which lacks a permit. “The structure has withstood significant weather events throughout its construction,” Arroyo said, predicting that it would only need some “small surgical interventions.” Renowned British architect Norman Foster visited the site in 2009 — when he came to Spain to collect a prize — telling Gallego that he should be the one getting the award, Arroyo added. The sturdiness of the project is surprising given that Gallego had no formal training as a builder, and he worked without a blueprint. In interviews, he repeatedly said that the details for the cathedral were “in his head” and “it all comes from above.” The complex stands in a street called Avenida Antoni Gaudi, named after the architect behind Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia basilica, which has been under construction since 1883. However, unlike the Sagrada Familia, the Cathedral of Justo Gallego, as it is known, is not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as a place of worship. Father Angel Garcia Rodriguez, the maverick priest who heads Messengers of Peace, wants to turn Gallego’s building into an inclusive space for all faiths and one that is used to help the poor. “There are already too many cathedrals and too many churches, that sometimes lack people,” he said. “It will not be a typical cathedral, but a social center where people can come to pray or if they are facing difficulties,” he added. Father Angel is famous in Spain for running a restaurant offering meals to the homeless and for running a church in central Madrid where pets are welcome and the faithful can confess via iPad. Inside the Cathedral of Justo, volunteers continued working on the structure, while a steady stream of visitors walked around the grounds admiring the building in the nondescript suburb. “If the means are put in, especially materials and money, to finish it, then it will be a very beautiful place of worship,” said Ramon Calvo, 74, who was visiting the grounds with friends. Print Reporting from Mejorada del Campo Spain — There are hundreds of magnificent cathedrals across Europe so why do streams of visitors journey to a Madrid suburb to see an unfinished cathedral being built largely with discarded materials and without blueprints by an eccentric two friends and I decided to see for ourselves leaving behind the museums and tapas bars of Madrid Is he a modern-day Don Quixote flailing at an impossible dream or is he a visionary of extraordinary persistence rays of sunlight poured through an unfinished dome He told us that his first ambition — to become a Roman Catholic monk — was shattered when he contracted tuberculosis and had to leave the monastery meditated and finally came up with a plan to serve God Don Justo was neither an architect nor engineer and lacked construction experience He consulted books and photos of cathedrals and other famous buildings and began construction in 1961 during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco Mejorada del Campo was a tiny farming community No one paid much attention to construction that began without building permits Now 53 years and about 165,000 work hours later Don Justo’s roughly hewed cathedral is perhaps 75% finished must be completed; a floor and pews must be installed; labor-intensive finishing touches must be applied everywhere the entrance incorporates design elements from the North Portico of the White House offices and small apartments surround a courtyard alongside the main structure Storks have taken a liking to the complex and formed giant nests on four towers Airliners roar overhead after takeoff from nearby Madrid-Barajas Airport albeit with handsome arches and murals leading to a large second-story choir area A Ford sedan sat along the left wall and an unfinished altar stood in the middle Don Justo warmed his hands over a crackling fire and gave a snack to his Chihuahua “How did you come up with the cathedral plans?” I asked Don Justo “How do you respond to people who call you loco?” There is little doubt that of the 7 billion of us who inhabit this Earth Don Justo would rank in the top 1% for faith Don Justo sold land he had inherited and began construction on a remaining parcel in his hometown of Mejorada del Campo He rose early each morning to collect bricks and blocks that a local factory had discarded as irregular He cemented a scrap piece of this to a recycled piece of that The cathedral began to draw more visitors after Don Justo was featured in a Spanish TV ad a decade ago Images of the cathedral also were included in exhibits at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and later in Valladolid companies and individuals donated materials Don Justo has been assisted by Angel Lopez a Spaniard who has taken on the heavy lifting Spaniards and a priest and parishioners from Germany work as volunteers for short periods each year When the cathedral will be finished is an open question and he prays that donations from around the world will enable him to continue the work the Catholic Church has offered no funds or assurance that it will consecrate the structure as a church or cathedral we can finish la catedral in two to three years,” he said “Once we complete the dome and finish the floor and pews He has dedicated the cathedral to the Virgin Mary and has named it Nuestra Señora del Pilar Augustine Gallego (no relation to Don Justo) and Karen Thaxton this visit to the cathedral is their fifth since 1990 chancellor emeritus of the San Diego Community College District I continue to be inspired by what one man can accomplish but he’s sharp and still possesses an incredible passion for his work and devotion to God.” and I also marveled at the work of Don Justo who seems to be a throwback to builders without architectural credentials who nonetheless created Europe’s grand cathedrals We were intrigued by the cathedral’s towers built with misshaped clay blocks that look like multicolored waffles the block towers will be covered fully with concrete but the municipal government has yet to inspect it for structural safety The easiest way to get to the cathedral from Madrid is by taxi during non-rush hour (about $35 each way) we went by subway to Avenida de America station and then by the No 282 bus to the Avenida Reja Grande stop in Mejorada del Campo to 4 p.m.) is free; a donation box sits near the door You are more likely to spot Don Justo at work Mondays through Saturdays the cathedral stands on a street named for an architect of another unfinished cathedral — Antonio Gaudí of the famed Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona Don Justo also has a street named in his honor in recognition of the attention and tourists he’s brought to the quiet community of 23,000 residents After our cathedral tour and conversations we bade Don Justo adios and headed for lunch at La Posada del Hi-Da restaurant A large plate of scrumptious roasted vegetables landed on our table and we dug in we stared out the window at the cathedral and savored what had been a fascinating day trip Swiss and Air Canada offer connecting service (change of planes) to Madrid Restricted round-trip fares range from $903 to $1,439 a taxi can take you from your hotel in Madrid to the cathedral being built by Justo Gallego Martinez in 40 minutes for about $35 each way walk a block on Paseo del Arenero to Calle Antonio Gaudi; go right for a block to the cathedral Subway fare $1.80-2.50 each way; bus $6.50 round trip Two restaurants with same ownership are two blocks from the cathedral 1 Calle Abogados Laboralistas (at the corner of Paseo del Arenero); 011-34-916-791-050 grilled meat entrees $10-$25; open daily 7 a.m.-11 p.m specializing in grilled meats; entrees $15-$48 You can tour the unfinished cathedral on your own and likely can chat with Don Justo during work breaks Monday through Saturday Corner of Calle Antonio Gaudí and Santa Rosa Mejorada del Campo, mejoradadelcampo.es (Spanish only) Tourist Office of Spain, 8383 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 960, Beverly Hills; (323) 658-7188, www.spain.info/en travel@latimes.com Travel & Experiences California Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map a former Trappist monk who spent the better part of the last six decades of his life single-handedly building a cathedral in Mejorada del Campo a small town located on the outskirts of Madrid Gallego died last month within the walls of the very building he constructed In an interview with The New York Times in 2017 “This is where my vocation has taken me and this is where I’m prepared to suffer just as Jesus Christ taught us to suffer for others.” One would be hard-pressed to find an equivalent of the unique combination of both man and mission here in the United States Gallego was indifferent to both praise and criticism “I’ve not been building this to get money or fame just as I’m not here to listen to people decide whether I’m mad or unique,” he told a reporter “I’m fully responsible for my work and I’m not looking for the authorities to have any say.” While Justo Gallego passed away inside a small apartment within the cathedral Why would a man devote his life to such a project and endure Gallego spent eight years in a Trappist monastery but was asked to leave at age 35 after contracting tuberculosis Leadership feared he would infect his fellow monks Gallego pledged to build a structure honoring God He also saw the work as a means to redeem the destruction of churches during the Spanish Civil War “I saw the Communists destroy all the churches here with people laughing and dancing in the ruins,” he recalled you can then also rebuild with your own hands a beautiful new place.” “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and Mr metal food tins and other recycled materials were used in construction Costs of anything purchased were covered by donations and proceeds from the sale of family farmland From the mishmash of the reassembled mixture rose over the decades a massive building featuring a 125-foot cupola and two adjacent cloisters called the project “a work of genius built upon faith unshakable qualities that Justo kept throughout his life.” What will come of the cathedral in light of Mr he donated the structure to an organization called “Messengers of Peace” – a group that operates an orphanage along with centers for those with drug addictions The group has pledged to bring the structure up to code and is committed to rebuilding anything deemed dangerous Justo Gallego was an eccentric and even a misfit – a man tackling a project well beyond his means and skillset he was often mocked and labeled by some to be mentally unstable They said his mind was sound – but his mindset was of another century when and where brawn and the solitude of work were seen as a form of worship “But Jesus Christ is the one who makes the real plans and decides what eventually should happen.” shouldn’t we also regularly feel out of place in this world but the Lord establishes his steps,” wrote Solomon (Proverbs 16:9) but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21) The Lord may not be calling you to build a cathedral of used bricks and Bridgestone tires – but what seemingly impossible task has He put on your heart It might take time to do it – and maybe even more time than you have left and then another – and you might just be shocked at how He will use your obedience to accomplish His plans Daily Headlines | Thursday December 9, 2021 California Wants to Become an ‘Abortion Sanctuary’ if ‘Roe v. Wade’ is Overturned Paul Batura HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors 18 Truth Bombs from Matt Walsh’s Interview with Tucker Carlson Wesley Huff is a Brilliant Christian Apologist You Must Know About Conrad Hilton and the National Day of Prayer Justo Gallego built a 'cathedral' near Madrid with his own hands and with materials destined for the scrap heap he will never see the end of the construction the "madman" who had to give up his vocation as a monk because of tuberculosis which is not recognised as a place of worship by the religious authorities is built on a vacant lot in Mejorada del Campo located 20 kilometres east of Madrid's city centre Today the cathedral has a surface area of 4,700m² a central nave of 50 metres long and 20 metres wide a height of 35 metres and twelve Gothic or Byzantine style towers Visiting the site in 2009 after receiving the Princess of Asturias award, the famous British architect Norman Foster told him: "You should have been awarded this prize," engineer and architect Juan Carlos Arroyo said a reporter from AFP news agency according to France24 is studying the solidity of the construction "The structure has withstood major weather events throughout its construction," Arroyo says expressing confidence that it will require "only minor surgery" but (Justo) used it 60 years ago when nobody was talking about it" and "he created an aesthetic Too weak to work in recent years -he took to his bed over a year ago- Justo handed over his life's work to the Messengers of Peace charity of Father Angel López (52) a well-known and media-savvy cleric in Spain "He's a marvellous person; he loves to talk to people, to explain everything; a wonderful person who loves Christ", Father Angel said before Gallego's death Lopez has spent the last 24 years beside his mentor learning the construction techniques Gallego developed without any formal training Father Angel would like the cathedral in Justo to be open to all faiths and people in need "I dare to say that there are too many cathedrals and too many churches and sometimes we need them to be full," he says in front of the altar "It will not be a cathedral as such but a social centre where people can come to pray" or if they "have difficulties" Justo Gallego Martínez began the project in 1961 after tuberculosis forced him to leave an order of Trappist monks promising to build a cathedral if she saved him He recovered and immediately got to work on land he inherited from his family without construction plans and training The cathedral was dedicated to the "Virgin of the Pillar" Salient detail: the building is in the street of Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926) which was unfinished at the time of his death and is still not finished He was 36 at the time and has never stopped since. "The way is made by walking" was one of his stubborn phrases, German Domradio.de writes From six in the morning until six in the evening He got the stones as rejects from a nearby brickyard; filled rain gutters became steps oil drums and plastic canisters became moulds for columns or concrete kerbs He could even use old perimeter advertising from Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium as a base or support material "Throw something in the box," he grumbled at visitors when they approached him and might interrupt him in his work Yet he says what he has to say with what he designs the biblical Pauline word "We are fools for Christ's sake" has led people to a life that radically closes itself off to social conventions Justo Gallego Martinez was almost certainly one of them Best in Travel is here! Discover 2025’s destinations The 30 best countries, cities and regions to visit in 2025 Plan your trip with Elsewhere, by Lonely Planet See where a Lonely Planet Membership takes you Subscribe to our weekly newsletters to get the latest travel news, expert advice, and insider recommendations Explore the world with our detailed, insightful guidebooks Stay ahead of the curve with our guidebooks Uncover exciting new ways to explore iconic destinations Every month, we release new books into the wild Search Search Close search menu Explore Best in Travel 2024 Africa Close menu Countries Antarctica Antarctica Close menu Regions Asia Asia Close menu Countries Australia & the Pacific Australia & the Pacific Close menu Countries The Caribbean The Caribbean Close menu Countries Central America Central America Close menu Countries Europe Europe Close menu Countries Middle East Middle East Close menu Countries North America North America Close menu Countries South America South America Close menu Countries Justo Gallego Martínez has spent 60 years building a cathedral largely by himself and with no formal training © Eric Vandeville / Getty Images has spent 60 years building a cathedral in the outskirts of the Spanish capital out of anything he can find Editor's Note: On November 28, 2021, six days after this piece was published, Spanish press reported that Justo Gallego Martínez had died at the age of 96 Towering over a nondescript Madrid suburb the Cathedral of Justo Gallego is a vision in broken brick the 4700-square-meter (50,590-square-foot) building is the life’s work of an ex-monk who constructed it almost single-handedly without plans or permission Though visitors come in droves to marvel at the building the authorities have studiously ignored its existence with neither the town council of Mejorada del Campo nor the Catholic Church wanting to take responsibility for it would never be able to convince anybody powerful enough to take on the risks of a building many said was structurally unsound and rumors spread that the building might be headed toward demolition an NGO led by a maverick priest stepped in and called on a firm of structural engineers that has This isn’t the first time Gallego has stared death in the face Back in 1961 he had to leave an order of Trappist monks after contracting tuberculosis promising to build her a cathedral if she saved him building on land he’d inherited from his family he scavenged bricks from old building sites locals began to lend a hand and to donate materials Gallego grew to be an inspirational figure to the community of Mejorada del Campo the cathedral under construction for 60 years is a testament to the sheer resilience and creativity of the human spirit A wonderful person who loves Christ,” said Ángel López who has spent the last 24 years of his life beside his mentor Those who couldn’t give their time gave construction materials including nearby factories and building sites who donated the cement used to reinforce the cathedral’s signature pillars made from stacked oil drums Broken bricks and exposed wire give the building’s high towers and wide staircases a raw aesthetic that celebrates the imperfections of its donated materials Windows painstakingly made from tiny beads of smashed colored glass glued into the shape of sunbeams bathe the building in red and yellow light Still, not everybody is a fan of Gallego’s work. Comments made in 2013 by Andrés Cánovas, an architect at the Madrid School of Architecture, to online news outlet Madrilánea may have been responsible for the Church and the town council’s hesitancy to take on the project: “Any architect who signs off on this [building] would be crazy to do so,” Cánovas said “I would never take my children to spend an afternoon there; it violates all safety regulations.” an engineering firm that has worked on high-profile projects such as Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium The news that the firm had declared the building structurally sound was announced in the Spanish press on November 9 those close to him affirm that he is delighted with the news that barring four cupolas that were demolished the week before last Calter looks ready to sign off on the building “It is incredible that they built a cathedral of this scale without blueprints nor an overall design, and that this was done by a single individual,” Calter’s construction manager, Jesús Jiménez, said in an article in El Mundo The next step forward is for the town council’s technical team to approve the building The municipality of Mejorada del Campo seems to be keen on expediting matters and is filing a petition to get the building declared Bien de Interés Cultural (an asset of cultural interest) by the Community of Madrid founder and president of the Mensajeros de la Paz is confident that Calter together with the town council will officially sign off on the building by Christmas when he hopes to put on a concert to celebrate rushing to complete work to cover cupolas that are open to the elements “At the moment we are at a standstill; let’s see if we get the permits,” said López One thing for certain is that officials from the Catholic Church will not be attending any event in the cathedral with the Archdiocese of Madrid still refusing to visit despite repeated invitations When asked how he feels about the cathedral not being consecrated by his church pointing out that Mejorada del Campo falls within the diocese of Alcalá de Henares only one church in a diocese can be ranked as a cathedral and Alcalá de Henares already has its own [cathedral],” he said Father Ángel has decided to make Gallego’s cathedral an inclusive space: “It’s not going to be a normal cathedral it’ll be a place for men and women to gather Those who believe and those who don’t will be able to come in Famous for opening the doors of his church to those in need and for running a restaurant offering the unhoused a dignified dining experience Father Ángel is a well-known figure in Spain many think he is exactly the sort of person the cathedral needs as a champion and locals are delighted that Father Ángel’s group has saved the building “We are very happy for the cathedral,” said David Rodríguez Valdepeñas a bar and restaurant that is around the corner from the cathedral “It seems that they can continue with its construction and finish it off While most of the chatter on social media seems to support Valdepeñas’ view some expressed fears that Mensajeros de la Paz might begin to use the cathedral as a cash cow by charging entry the press officer for Mensajeros de la Paz unequivocally denied these accusations and insisted that visitors will Since the news about the cathedral’s future broke donations have indeed been pouring in: “Many people are arriving with building material even offers for heating or air-conditioning,” said Father Ángel Father Ángel also confirmed that Coca-Cola has committed to funding some of the construction work and in exchange a huge portrait of Gallego done in Coca-Cola bottle caps has been mounted on the wall in the nave The company has a long history with the cathedral an advertisement for a Coca-Cola sports drink Even if they do raise the money needed to complete the cathedral López is reluctant to commit to a completion date Father Ángel hopes to finish things within three years Whether Gallego will live to see that happen is uncertain — as is his final resting place Besides securing the future of the building his last wish is to be buried in the cathedral’s crypt Though the local council is now on board with the effort to preserve the building denying Gallego the right to be buried on the premises Justo Gallego wanted to thank God for curing his tuberculosis so he decided to build a cathedral — by himself has labored every day on his 86,000-sq.-ft (8,000 sq m) creation in the center of Mejorada del Campo Today the cathedral is more than half done and has made its creator and his hometown famous throughout Spain Gallego knows he will never see his project to the end His hope is that the local diocese will take it over when he’s gone a problem with zoning permits may mean Spain’s one-man cathedral will have to come down Gallego has relied on his instinct and “God’s guiding hand” — no blueprints mostly out of discarded construction materials a library and a 130-ft.-high (40 m) dome modeled on the cupola of St “They called me crazy and laughed at me but look at it,” Gallego says defiantly as he paints a steel beam on one of the 147-ft “I started with a cross and then just kept on building.” (See the top 10 religious relics.) But the future of Gallego’s legacy is uncertain which isn’t officially recognized by the church Municipal authorities admit privately that for decades they looked the other way as Gallego raised his structure only a couple of blocks from city hall but also because few actually thought he would succeed That tactic won’t work for much longer as Gallego prepares to leave his incomplete masterpiece to the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares which will have to decide whether to keep building the cathedral or destroy it “What Don Justo has done is admirable I kneel before his faith,” says Father Florentino Rueda which means we could inherit a problem.” (See pictures of spiritual healing around the world.) The story of Gallego’s quixotic quest dates back to Spain’s civil war but the war brought his schooling to an abrupt end and he spent most of his youth working on his family’s farmlands he left home and joined a monastery when he was 27 with plans of becoming a priest only to have his dreams dashed nine years later when he was expelled for contracting tuberculosis After his recovery — which involved spending two years in a hospital — he returned home to Mejorada del Campo and decided to “marry” the Church his own way: by consecrating his life to building a cathedral for Our Lady of the Pillar Spain was ruled by the dictatorial General Francisco Franco and a government strongly aligned with the Catholic Church Local authorities extended Gallego an open building permit for the cathedral on his land in the middle of town With sporadic help from his nephews and money he got from selling other properties he had inherited he looked to just three books about cathedrals and castles (See 10 surprising facts about the world’s oldest Bible.) Gallego earned the respect of many of his neighbors Then people from across the region volunteered for days or weeks at a time to help and construction companies donated surplus building materials and money But even after Franco’s death in 1975 and Spain’s return to democratic rule the cathedral was used in an advertising campaign for the energy drink Aquarius catapulting Mejorada del Campo to national fame with visitors arriving from around Spain by the busload to see Gallego’s work After touring the grounds littered with scrap metal and other building materials — with no apparent concern for health and safety regulations — they can buy calendars and books on Gallego at the door The attention has now brought the building-permit problem out into the open but nobody is willing to be the villain who puts an end to Gallego’s quest “The entire country would condemn them if they tried,” Father Rueda says the cathedral is “in legal limbo,” a city hall official says speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue Mejorada del Campo has asked regional and national authorities to intervene but the ultimate jurisdiction is municipal “The work is very advanced and we don’t know how to stop it,” the official says “We are all concerned about what happens if this thing falls down but nobody wants to be responsible for stopping [the construction] Many people here have grown up with the cathedral.” What happens next is anybody’s guess And who’s going to insure this?” Father Rueda asks But Gallego isn’t worried about permits and costs — those are issues to be dealt with once he’s gone which helped me come this far,” he says he is focused simply on dedicating the rest of his life — however little time that may be — to bringing his dream as close to reality as possible See the top 10 religion stories of 2009. See the top 10 Jesus films of all time. Contact us at letters@time.com One man is behind it all: a former Trappist monk named Justo Gallego He started building the church in 1961 after a bout with tuberculosis forced him to leave the monastery where he lived He sold some of his inherited land to raise enough money to start construction using salvaged materials like donated bricks and oil drums to build it Critics call him a madman and his cathedral trash and the town seems to have turned a blind eye to how neither his materials nor the building itself meets construction codes.  the building shows a remarkable beauty and attention to detail.  "If I lived my life again, I'd build this church again, only bigger. Twice the size," he said to the BBC. "Because for me began work on the building on this day in 1961 but knows he may not live to see it finished In a small town just to the west of Madrid a cathedral is being built – just as it has been for the past 56 years It is a symbol of one man’s faith and dedication Its creator is Justo Gallego, a 92-year-old former monk now too frail to do much more than supervise the construction of his idiosyncratic cathedral – an act of devotion he began this day in 1961 – and chastise those women who dare to enter the house of God wearing short skirts He sits in an armchair in the building site that is the cathedral’s nave and beneath bright frescoes showing the Annunciation and the Finding in the Temple Swallows hurl themselves around the columns and galleries of his life’s work But Gallego knows he is unlikely to live to see the cathedral completed Gallego began the project on 12 October 1961 after tuberculosis forced him to leave the Cistercian order and return home to revive an old dream The exterior of Gallego’s cathedral Photograph: Sam Jones/The GuardianHe was nine years old when the Spanish civil war broke out As well as the nights spent hiding from bombs in cellars and the dogfights that sent planes spinning towards the ground he remembers the churches burned down by the communists “I’d had the idea for the cathedral since I was a child,” he says When I was little and my mother used to give me money I bought candles and gave them to the priest It all comes from what my mother taught me.” donations and the odd bequest – not to mention a Land Rover an excavator and a John Deere tractor – he has managed to keep the dream alive His friend and factotum Ángel López has promised to carry on the work when Gallego has gone and ensure the cathedral is one day a home for the faithful “Ángel is very good and he knows what he’s doing … I don’t do anything any more; those days are over I just sit and tell Ángel what to put where and what not to do.” All Gallego lacks now are funds – and a little more time A drawing of how Gallego’s cathedral will look Photograph: Sam Jones/The GuardianThe cathedral has been built on land owned by the Gallego family without the permission or support of the local council which sits 35 metres (115ft) above the dusty floor The temple of brick and thrifty ingenuity is known as the Cathedral of Faith “I’ve never thought about abandoning the project I don’t need architects; I’ve moved past them I’m a hard worker: give me the money and I’ll make it look beautiful.” sleeps in a room off the cathedral complex and save for the odd plea for sartorial modesty (“I tell them to get out and come back properly covered”) exchanges few words with tourists and visitors Those who make the pilgrimage are politely steered in the direction of an enormous donation box while signs ask people to leave Gallego alone and instead commemorate the trip with a €15 book about his life or a €5 calendar The interior of Gallego’s cathedral in in Mejorada del Campo Photograph: Sam Jones/The GuardianDespite his fervour anchoritic existence and frequent depiction as one-part Don Quixote one-part Antoni Gaudí and one-part monomaniac Gallego is very aware of how he is seen in the town and beyond “They think this is all the work of a madman The pharisees said Christ was casting out devils with the help of Beelzebub sometimes the act itself is more important than its result “You have to follow Christ on the cross,” he says “Some people are Christians in name only: when they see the cross slapping concrete on to yet another column in the cathedral he has been building single-handedly for 45 years With a red woollen cap soaking up the baking midday sun and his blue coat covered in dust and drying cement reclusive 81-year-old was in the middle of a self-imposed working day that started at 6am "I can't say when it will be finished," he said arches and cloisters he has raised above the arid ground of Mejorada del Campo Justo's do-it-yourself cathedral was yesterday a focus of media attention in Spain as news spread that a Spanish ironmonger had donated and delivered the buildings' doors while a French artist was offering to decorate the interior It now seems possible that what Justo's own neighbours have often regarded as a useless folly worthy of the legendary Don Quixote may become the cathedral he pledged to build with his own hands half a century ago Visitors wandered in and out of his red-brick and concrete cathedral yesterday weaving their way past heaps of recycled building materials and mounds of cement bags Justo ignored them as he pursued the obsession that has kept him busy through searing heat and freezing cold Journalists were invited to read a written version of why he embarked on his single-minded pursuit "Apart from occasional help from others I have built it all myself," he explains "I've got up at 3.30 some mornings in order to start work." The scale of Justo's ambition can be seen in the size of a building whose main temple occupies 1,000 sq metres (10,700 sq ft) The heavy metal frame of a huge cupola is already in place A dozen 40-metre (130ft) towers are almost complete four priests' homes and a sweeping flight of steps up to the soon-to-be-installed front doors are at varying states of completion "I am not an architect or a bricklayer nor do I have any training in building," Justo admits The concrete on the larger curved arches was moulded with old tyres Smaller arches were shaped around car wheels Abandoned tin cans and plastic tubes have also been pressed into service begged off building sites or provided by local brick or tile factories that send him their rejects The land itself is a former olive grove that belongs to Justo's family The cathedral currently resembles a chaotic cross between a dilapidated medieval monastery and a modern scrap-yard Bits of metal poke out here and there from uneven patches of concrete rendering The deformed bricks on one soaring tower look as though they have been squashed by the weight of what sits on top of them rusting scaffolding and bits of old carpet form part of an array of home-made building equipment along with winches made from rope and old bicycle wheels Local sceptics have spent four decades claiming the building is bound to fall in on itself "If you don't think it is safe then don't come in," is the reply given by Gregorio Martín a former missionary who acts as Justo's doorman attracted by the blossoming popularity not just of the building but of the builder A large trestle table with a simple portrait of Pope John Paul II was being used yesterday as a depository for picture cards of saints and virgins for medallions and for notes of support left by those who already begin to see the stuff of sainthood in Justo A group of 20 German priests travel south every July to work alongside him for a few days Justo's eccentric dream was born after he was sent home with tuberculosis from a Cistercian monastery almost half a century ago frustrating his plans for a life of religious contemplation "I was inspired by books on cathedrals castles and other great buildings," he explains "But my greatest inspiration is Christ." He has suffered ridicule and the disdain of both the local town hall and Roman Catholic authorities over the decades "Now it seems they both want to get involved," mutters Gregorio has always known people were laughing at him "As they have seen the cathedral grow they have realised that I am not mad," he told a Spanish newspaper yesterday The German priests say their own prayers here but the question of whether the cathedral will ever be used for normal worship remains open which will receive the building when he dies He has even starred in a television advertisement for a popular soft drink Even his friends admit that his obsession is out of the ordinary "You have to be a bit odd to do this," agrees Gregorio "People laugh at him," says Ramón Flores who sells vegetables from a stall across the road "But he lives off a piece of bread and a tomato a day I would say he is closer to a saint." Justo is not bothered by what people think "I just keep working every day," he says "I try to be content with what I have done so far." · Workforce One (plus the occasional tourist) For over 60 years, former monk Justo Gallego had been building a cathedral out of scrap materials on the outskirts of Madrid but left the unfinished complex in Mejorada del Campo to a charity run by a priest that has vowed to complete his labour of love Gallego began the project in 1961 when he was in his mid-30s on land inherited from his family after a bout of tuberculosis forced him to leave an order of Trappist monks The cathedral stands in a street called Avenida Antoni Gaudi named after the architect behind Barcelona's Sagrada Familia wood and other material scavenged from old building sites The project was also funded through donations that began to arrive once the project became better known The building's pillars are made from stacked oil drums while windows have been cobbled and glued together from shards of coloured glass but he used it 60 years ago when nobody talked about it," said Juan Carlos Arroyo an engineer and architect with engineering firm CALTER The charity that is taking over the project hired the firm to assess the structural soundness of the building the maverick priest who founded 'Messengers of Peace' wants to turn Gallego's building into an inclusive space for all faiths and one that is used to help the poor Check out the video above to see more of Gallego's cathedral Home » Animals » SIGN: Justice for Bull with Legs Broken, Dragging Himself Across the Ground at Cruel FestivalBy Emma Kansiz ​Mr. Santiago Cabanas Ansorena, Spanish Ambassador to the United States: [email protected] / 202 728 2330 PETITION TARGET: Spanish Ambassador Cabanas Ansorena Thank you to everyone who signed our petition we were unable to obtain any additional information about this poor bull We’ll keep doing all we can for animals In a tragic event in the village of Mejorada del Campo a bull painfully broke both of his legs while jumping to the ground from his cage during a cruel bull running festival earlier this week The impact of the concrete shattered the bull’s bones and he was filmed dragging himself along the ground in agonizing pain Observers say that the event organizers had placed the cage too high above the ground making it impossible for the bull to safely land on his feet Bull festivals often masquerade as traditional cultural entertainment when in truth they are merely glorified animal cruelty These celebrations of torture serve no purpose other than human entertainment and the abuse inflicted on the bulls forced to participate is devastating Sign this petition to urge Santiago Cabanas Ansorena the Spanish ambassador to the United States to push for animal cruelty charges in this case as well as fight for a ban on all bull festivals in Spain If these cruel events are allowed to continue countless more bulls will suffer a similar fate — or worse Get the latest updates on our investigations and petitions right to your inbox Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" NewsPetitionsVictoriesLFT InvestigatesSupport LFT Our MissionOur FounderTeam & BoardPressForms 990 ContactTerms of UsePrivacy NoticeFAQs © 2022 Lady Freethinker. 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In the blue-collar suburb of Mejorada del Campo a 94-year-old ex-monk named Justo Gallego has been building a cathedral with his bare hands since 1961 he has erected a monumental temple that receives thousands of visitors each year The scale of the building is jaw-dropping: Picture a nave the size of two basketball courts surrounded by arcaded walkways and colorful frescoes Portals on either side lead to two cloisters and four living quarters Former Trappist monk Justo Gallego collects a rope from the unfinished dome of his self-built cathedral on January 21 There are building materials and scrap metal everywhere and the central dome is nothing more than a metal skeleton Will the government or Church intervene to protect the cathedral or will it be bulldozed to make way for chain stores or shiny new condos for commuters The more I learned about Gallego’s cathedral was a tale that needed telling—before it was too late and shot him a text to schedule an interview His response caught me off guard: “How much are you willing to donate?” Mejorada del Campo is situated 15 miles east of Madrid it’s like any other Spanish suburb built in the postwar era Low-rise apartments spoke out from a plain central square where kids kick soccer balls and abuelos chit-chat on park benches Laundry dangles from clothes lines above narrow Gallego resolved to honor God in the only other way he knew He had inherited a plot of land on the outskirts of town he would erect a temple to the Virgin Mary People in the village thought he was insane: How could a man with so little education and so few means construct a cathedral from scratch Mural paintings on the arches are part of the decoration of the cathedral in Mejorada del Campo hoisting bags of concrete and hauling truckloads of assorted scraps Long before the term “sustainable construction” was coined Gallego was fashioning battlements out of hairspray canisters and archways out of industrial springs some 90 percent of the building materials are recycled or reused The asceticism ingrained in him at the monastery never left him He devised his building plans not through physics or mathematics but rather through visions that came to him in prayer supplemented by tips from rudimentary architecture manuals What slowly rose from the rubble surprised everyone The cathedral had a whiff of Gaudí to it—all rounded arches Orbs painted in gold and cobalt led the way to the entrance “I love circles,” Gallego told the Spanish news network Telecinco A general view of the unfinished dome of the cathedral being built by former Trappist monk Justo Gallego on January 21 It was around that time that López (the guy who asked me to pay up) arrived on the scene had long been fascinated by the cathedral and They forged such a close bond over the years that López stands to inherit Gallego’s estate All of this I gleaned from scouring newspapers and watching old TV segments not from speaking with Gallego face to face: Ultimately López wouldn’t let me near Gallego after I refused his pay-for-play proposal (My subsequent interview requests went unanswered.) López’s contrariness left a bad taste in my mouth since “pay up or shut up” didn’t strike me as a particularly Christian attitude eager to immerse myself in Gallego’s fantasy world Churches are often the tallest buildings in small-town Spain but Gallego’s cathedral looms over Mejorada like a ragtag Notre-Dame its naked metal spires jutting high above the one-story houses below a jumble of bricks of all shapes and sizes stacked willy-nilly around an enormous blue rose window Rounded red-painted steps slicked with moss curved lazily up to the entrance Nobody greeted us—just a donation box beside a sign that read ASK ÁNGEL ANY QUESTIONS.” Neither Gallego nor López were anywhere to be found I had to blink a few times to believe what I was seeing—beyond the sheer magnitude of the space there were bizarre bits and bobs everywhere a chapel contained spray-painted busts of the Apostles mauve spheres adorned an altar bearing a motley crew of idols and crucifixes hung as if in a hurry Then I noticed odder things: a rusting water boiler At first I was dumbstruck—it’s sobering to stand in such a sprawling building and realize that nearly every column a gaggle of kids roughhoused unsupervised—mere inches from a mountain of broken glass and pointy rusted springs a girl juggled a soccer ball beside a skein of electrical wires that passed through a puddle I spotted a pothole-size gap in the floor covered only with chicken wire Piles of dog shit sat decaying in the corners “This is a fantasy land for our kids,” a mother told me gesturing toward her two boys inspecting a rock pile beneath the Disney-esque turrets “It’s our third visit.” When I cracked a joke about forgetting my helmet but nobody’s ever gotten hurt here that I know of.” Just then a chestnut fell through the open roof onto the floor behind us A general view of a section of the transept of the cathedral Though the cathedral receives scores of visitors each day it’s still private property under Spanish law—which means it doesn’t have to abide by the same safety codes as the cathedral has never been formally evaluated by a surveyor and is illegal by today’s standards since no building license for the structure exists But Gallego’s defenders maintain that such permits weren’t required when he broke ground in 1961 told me over the phone that Mejorada’s city hall “cannot prevent people from visiting the cathedral just as it cannot prevent people from visiting anyone else’s private residence in Mejorada.” He added that while the local government sees “no real danger” in allowing people to tour the cathedral it would obviously be preferable that the building be adapted to current safety standards Sadly there’s no budget for such a massive undertaking The lack of documentation—from blueprints to safety certifications to other necessary licenses—also precludes the cathedral from becoming in the eyes of the local bishopric of Alcalá de Henares that his creation be an active place of worship (as opposed to a tourist attraction) If the bishopric doesn’t want the cathedral and the town can’t afford to modernize it who has made vague promises about not allowing the cathedral to perish yet avoids the particulars of what that would entail Mejorada has been in talks with a “UNESCO affiliate” about granting the building special status which would ensure its survival and conservation he will be named Mejorada’s favorite son in a first-of-its-kind ceremony celebrating his contributions to the town “el loco de la catedral” will go down as a local hero A modest wooden crucifix hangs above it and a shovel rests beside it—this is Gallego’s grave Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Benjamin Kemper followed the siren song of jamón ibérico from New York to Madrid where he writes about the places that make him hungriest \"Former Trappist monk Justo Gallego poses for a portrait at his self-built cathedral on January 21 Gallego aged 88 has been building his cathedral known locally as Don Justo's Cathedral since 1959 from salvaged materials and occasional volunteers.\" The Local Europe ABVästmannagatan 43113 25 StockholmSweden Please log in here to leave a comment A huge cathedral with tall towers and a magnificent dome rises slowly in the municipality of Mejorada del Campo, 20 kilometers from Madrid The building has been under construction for 50 years - brick by brick - by one man: Justo Gallego Martínez ex-monk and a self-taught architect of 91 years of age Learn about his life's work (literally) after the break Without any previous knowledge of architecture or any experience in the construction industry, Martínez has spent five decades collecting garbage and leftover building materials to build the 50 x 25-meter surface structure with a 60-meter high tower. © Flickr user: santiago lopez-pastor, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0Despite the skepticism of the inhabitants of the city, Don Justo - as the neighbors call him - has managed to progress the construction considerably without using even a crane, his only help was from some friendly workers. The process began without any kind of permission - because he was sure he would not get it - the plot of land is 4740 square meters inherited from his parents that today is worth more than one million euros. © Flickr user: santiago lopez-pastor, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0The Cathedral © Flickr user: gmalon, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0Some years ago Martínez told the BBC: "When I see what I have created, I am overwhelmed and I thank the Lord. If I could live my life again, I would like to build this same cathedral but twice as big, because, to me, this is an act of faith." Los planos. Image © Richard MorleyThe church has never received permission to be build and although it may never be worshipable in it, the authorities have allowed it to go ahead as it has become a tourist attraction for the city. Recently, Martínez has received donations from German organizations and advertising sponsorship from the energy drink Aquarius who paid him 40 thousand euros to tell his inspiring story as well as organizing a campaign to raise funds through text messages The building has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Justo Gallego Martínez has been interviewed by the world's largest television networks News Via: Daily Mail UK, BBCImages Via: Flickr, users Guillermo Malon, Santiago López-Pastor You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email Photo: Visual_Show Many people are compelled to make things despite their informal (or complete lack of) training it's often the result of an undeniable feeling of kismet or a vision they can't ignore. Justo Gallego Martínez is one of these extraordinary folks. At 91 years old the former Trappist monk has spent the last 56 years constructing his own cathedral completely from scratch in Mejorada del Campo This is despite the fact that he had no prior experience in architecture; rather Don Justo’s unconventional life path began due to illness he contracted tuberculosis and had to leave the monastery where he had been for the last eight years he began constructing the cathedral on land he inherited from his parents he made a promise that if he recovered from the tuberculosis the cathedral would be in honor of Our Lady of the Pilar the cathedral is known as Nuestra Señora del Pilar Don Justo first leveled the ground and mapped it out on site the structure is dictated by “opportunity and inspiration” and includes recycled materials and tools Unconventional items are also a staple of Don Justo’s construction They've help to form the series of dramatic spires and domes that all together Photo: Abraxas 139 h/t: [Demilked, CNN] Want to advertise with us? Visit My Modern Met Media Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening The Spanish former seminarian began building 60 years ago Justo Gallego Martínez’s unfinished cathedral in Mejorada del Campo A SPANISH layman who was popularly dubbed “God’s crazy bricklayer” has died, aged 96, after single-handedly constructing a “cathedral” for six decades out of discarded masonry and recycled junk “Tenacity and faith were his hallmarks: stone by stone attracting visitors and media interest from all over the world,” the city council of Mejorada del Campo said in a statement “The spirit of his work will remain eternally in the hearts of those who admired this cathedral — a work of genius built on lifelong immovable qualities of faith The statement was published at the start of three days of public mourning in the municipality in thanksgiving for his recovery from tuberculosis It said that Mr Martínez had no knowledge of architecture or engineering as well as “effort and tenacity grounded in his faith” and that the “lonely builder” had died “where he wanted to be Mr Martínez’s education was disrupted by the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War during which he witnessed anti-clerical republican forces shooting priests and looting churches He entered the Trappist order as a novice but was forced to leave after contracting TB and began building the cathedral on a plot inherited from his parents in honour of the Virgin of Pillar with a 120-foot dome modelled on St Peter’s Basilica AlamyJusto Gallego Martinez at the site of the cathedral Materials were donated by construction companies and a brick factory while its 12 columns and 28 cupolas were built from oil drums and other discarded metal The former Trappist was assisted latterly by six family members and occasional volunteers The work was funded with rent from farmland The “junk cathedral” was not given planning permission or official authorisation and was not recognised as a sacral object by Spain’s predominant Roman Catholic Church that a certified architect had now volunteered services to arrange the cathedral’s legalisation Mensajeros de la Paz (Messengers of Peace) had taken over its ownership and promised to complete it ”Having first promised a simple hermitage to the Virgin Mary he then wanted to offer her something much better,” Messengers of Peace said in a statement ”It saddens us that he has gone without seeing it finished — but he dedicated his life’s work to creating this precious cathedral and it will now always bear his name: Justo’s Cathedral.” Nicholas Reed Langen examines the Supreme Court ruling on gender We are a partnership of six diverse and welcoming congregations in the northern districts of Milton Keynes offering a rich tapestry of worshipping traditions – Anglican USPG is looking to appoint 3 Trustees (lay or ordained) committed to global mission within the Anglican Communion The Diocese of Gloucester is looking for a practical team member to join the Department of Mission and Ministry who brings a creative and flexible approach as we seek to develop and implement innovative approaches to collaborative ministry across the Diocese The Bishop of Lincoln seeks an ordained colleague to lead in vocational discernment within the Diocese The Diocese of London is delighted to welcome applications for the position of Area Director of Ministry (Willesden) and Diocesan Clergy Wellbeing Adviser run jointly by Sarum College and The Church Times tickets available This online seminar, run jointly by Modern Church and The Church Times discusses the theology underpinning the drive for growth tickets available Non-subscribers can read four articles for free each month Versión en castellano Club thanks the keeper for his professionalism Send to multiple recipients separating emails with a comma Goalkeeper Antonio Ad�n has come to an agreement with Real Madrid to bring to an end the contract between the two parties making the player a free agent to sign for any side "Real Madrid and Antonio Ad�n have terminated the contract that linked the player to the club Real Madrid is grateful for his professionalism and the faith the player has shown in the club and it wishes him the best of luck in his new future" was the statement issued by Real Madrid on the subject born 13th May 1987 in Mejorada del Campo on the outskirts of Madrid started his career with Real Madrid C in the 2004-05 season He then spent two seasons at Real Madrid Castilla until 2010 when he finally got the chance to move up to the first team His official debut for the club came in December 2010 when he substituted Polish keeper Jerzy Dudek in the Champions League game against Auxerre it was not until the 13th of February 2011 when he made his first team debut in 'La Liga' when he came off the bench in the 2nd minute after Iker Casillas had been sent off in Cornell�-El Prat 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If so, please send us your correction Follow the whole conversation MARCA IN ENGLISH IS BROUGHT TO YOU by INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY © MARCA.com Avenida de San Luis 25 - 28033 MADRID Un web de Unidad Editorial Es una nueva funcionalidad de Marca.com que te permitira compartir aquello que mas te gusta con tus amigos y conocidos Para poder aprovecharla al maximo accede con tu nombre de usuario Marca.com o tu usuario de Facebook Si no tienes usario de Marca.com te puedes registrar cuando quieras in the crypt of the church he has been building here moving from the nearby home of some relatives to the more spartan surroundings of his self-made temple He wants to make certain he will die in the place that has become his life’s mission just as Jesus Christ taught us to suffer for others,” said Mr Gallego as he threw wood onto a stove by his rudimentary bedroom where he sleeps on a plank without a mattress Justo Gallego at work on the cathedral he is building in Mejorada del Campo Photo: Gianfranco Tripodo/The New York Times Mr Gallego might be ready to confront death but some residents here worry about what will happen to his extraordinary project without him Mr Gallego has never received a building permit or any public financing but he has managed to erect a striking landmark in this otherwise nondescript town of 23,000 inhabitants on the outskirts of Madrid His ambitious undertaking is labeled the “Cathedral of Faith” on internet maps even though it has received no official backing from officials of the Catholic Church Flanked by two cloisters and crowned by an unfinished 125-foot-tall cupola “This man has built something incredible against all odds and turned it into a symbol of our town,” said Victor Morillo a resident who can see the cupola from the balcony of his apartment “The Town Hall should have done a lot more to help and should certainly not allow anything bad to happen to this cathedral after he dies.” The unfinished 125-foot-tall cupola of the cathedral project just as he has been unshaken by past criticism of his project and his own personality sometimes derided as that of an exalted former monk He is also unfazed that he has never received any public financing even in a country that is mostly Catholic and whose infrastructure has been heavily subsidised just as I’m not here to listen to people decide whether I’m mad or unique,” he said no one is talking of tearing the church down but neither is anyone certain of the project’s long-term future an official in charge of urban planning here said the city could not finance Mr Gallego because of budgetary constraints and had made no plan to guarantee the continuation of the project whatever its growing importance to the town and its identity he joined a monastery in the northern province of Soria but was ordered to leave eight years later after he caught tuberculosis and risked contaminating the other monks He said that his project was an act of faith motivated in part by his desire to make amends for the desecration he witnessed during the Spanish Civil War “I saw the communists destroy all the churches here with people laughing and dancing in the ruins,” he said Mr Gallego has put up most of the church himself without any training as an architect or civil engineer using recycled material ranging from food tins to misshapen bricks and other leftovers from local factories and construction sites The capitals of some of the church’s concrete pillars are made from secondhand car tyres painted grey to resemble the colour of the concrete used for the pillar but there are already frescoes on the walls Mr Gallego has financed his work by selling family farmland He has held religious ceremonies on the premises Justo Gallego “Many members of the institutional church view him as a fanatic who shouldn’t be taken seriously but I consider him an example for humanity,” said María Teresa Alonso who visits occasionally and has donated money to help Mr Gallego but here we see that faith can also build an incredible cathedral.” Mr Gallego has received some informal support from members of the local clergy but we support him in as far as we can,” said Pedro Luis Jiménez Langa Mr Gallego has increasingly relied on friends and volunteers to help with construction A local entrepreneur offered a crane to lift the cupola while some admirers have donated religious sculptures and decorations But nothing gets added without Mr Gallego’s approval particularly if it jars with the arches and other circular designs that he loves which are loosely based on the Romanesque style “That’s really not going to look good anywhere around here,” Mr Gallego said as he studied a blue dove made of raffia given as a donation but which Mr Gallego left lying on the floor While some have wondered about Mr Gallego’s mental health his supporters dispute there’s anything unhealthy about his obsession “Do you really think somebody mad could have built something like this?” said Pablo Cantuel Gallego who has been helping his uncle since he was a child “The only problem with my uncle is that he belongs to a different century He thinks and works like nobody could now imagine doing.” It is notable that Mr Gallego’s building is on a street named after Antoni Gaudí the architect of Barcelona’s world-famous and unfinished basilica but other architects have taken over and hope to finish his basilica in 2026 has no timetable and not even a single sketch of his cathedral project who said that he would take over the works when Mr Gallego died with a grin that revealed several missing teeth Sydney commercial real estate Melbourne commercial real estate Brisbane commercial real estate Adelaide commercial real estate Perth commercial real estate Canberra commercial real estate Darwin commercial real estate Hobart commercial real estate NSW properties for sale VIC properties for sale QLD properties for sale SA properties for sale WA properties for sale ACT properties for sale NT 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