Gaudi's first steps to sainthood

Sagrada Familia: Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece

The Vatican has given the green light to the first moves towards the beatification of the renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who designed Barcelona's Sagrada Familia cathedral.

Gaudi at a religious procession in the 1920s

Spanish radio said the authorisation came 10 weeks after the cardinal archbishop of Barcelona, Ricard Maria Carles, had formally asked for the procedure to begin.

"The Congregation for Investigations into Sainthood has acted quickly because some of the people it wants to give evidence about Gaudi are very old," the radio said.

The tribunal will look into what Spanish radio called the "legendary saintliness" of the architect, who died in a traffic accident in 1926, aged 74.

Casa Batllo: His unique designs are better known than his religiosity

The initiative is being backed by the Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudi, which is chaired by the rector of the Sagrada Familia, which was Gaudi's lifelong project and an expression of his deep faith.

The building, which was started in 1892, is still under construction and work on the interior has not even begun.

Gaudi was a fervant Catholic and a famous recluse. When he died - crushed to death by a tram - it was several days before it was realised whose remains they were.