Mega-constructions do not cease in the Madrid region. Shopping malls, Formula 1 circuits and now a Christian association, not linked to the church, wants to start building a giant Christ in Boadilla del Monte. The intention of the Asociación de Devotos del Corazón de Jesús de Boadilla and the Fundación Vía del Arte is for the sculpture to be 37 meters high and almost 60 meters wide. This would make it the largest Christ in the world, transforming this residential municipality of 65,839 inhabitants on the outskirts of Madrid into a place of “world pilgrimage”.
Of the 17 million euros that the association says it needs to carry out this project, at the moment they have raised 94,886 euros, all thanks to donations. According to the information they themselves provide on their website, to start phase 1 they need €135,000 and this would have to happen between the remainder of this year and February 2026.
A giant Christ bigger than the one in Rio de Janeiro
Although the money comes out of private hands, the land, located on public land in Boadilla del Monte, between the M-50, the Financial City and the M-501, was ceded by the City Council in a plenary session in November 2019. According to this association this responds ” to the popular will of the citizens”, but the comments on networks of local media such as InfoBoadilla are not very positive and you can read opinions such as: “17 million and while the sports center Condesa de Chinchón remains unfinished and in a ruinous state”. Meanwhile, the official accounts of the town council of the municipality do not name or announce it, but they do receive comments that continue in the same tone. Although for now there is no official complaint or protest against the project by the residents of Boadilla.
The technical part of the magnanimous sculpture is still in the hypothesis phase, because the calculations of the structure have not yet been made, although the plan is to make it mainly of reinforced concrete. The intention of this association is that the arms and the head will overcome the “acoustic protection ridges of the adjoining highways”. It should be noted that the houses in the municipality do not exceed four stories, so it is likely to be visible from almost any point.
The face will be sculpted following the image of the Holy Shroud, the wounds on the body will become cracks that the light will pass through, and inside there will be a giant golden heart, which will serve as a place of prayer, while accompanying the sound of the constant heartbeat. The work is expected to be completed by June 2030, but it all depends on the pace at which donations are coming in.