Built in record time
All of them participated jointly with the
workers to build the 190 meter-long and
36 meter-wide altar, plus the 4,000 meter
square platform. The project included buil-
ding a 9,000 meter square wave or rugged
white mountain. A structure in the shape
of a tree, to provide shade to His Holiness
and the Royal Family was built at the central
part of the platform.
During six weeks, all were at the worksite of
the great esplanade at the military airfeld,
making it possible for the major structure
by architect Ignacio Vicens came to life.
The aircraft usually at the runway, were
replaced by cranes and trucks and many
people worked day and night to ensure that
everything was ready for the great event
Focusing on safety
Experience, technical expertise, and hu-
man relations are the values underpinning
their professions The project was executed
smoothly and in record time, and always fo-
cusing on the safety of personnel.
Everything was under the supervision of
Francisco Pelluz who considers that buil-
ding this altar meant “contributing to a glo-
bal event, bringing not just Madrid, but all of
Spain to all corners of the world. We belie-
ve that we made a signifcant contribution
to youth and the community”.
Leticia Ontillera, jointly with her boss, José
Page, was in charge of coordinating, as-
sessing, and supervising all the work to be
sure that it was done correctly and accor-
ding to the timetable. The project was exe-
cuted under pressure and had to be ready
by the deadline. As she said, “working in a
project of these characteristics, with great
social impact, the stress under which we
worked, the many people involved, coor-
dination, respect, and companionship are
all aspects that enrich you personally since
you feel part of the event, part of something
that will go down in history, and you will
always be able to say that you collabora-
ted in the construction of this stage. FCC
offered me the opportunity to work on this
project and I will always feel proud of having
taken part in its execution”.
José Page has always liked diffcult cha-
llenges. “We have worked on a colossal
ephemeral architecture project, executed
in a short time, with very powerful and at-
tractive visual effects”. Although there were
some problems along that way that had to
be resolved, as José mentioned “we have
collaborated with a very potent setting to
match the great His Holiness Benedict XVI’
s great strength and power t attract large
audiences”.
Fernando Oreja also feels very proud to
work with this team. “For me, being able
to participate in building the Cuatro Vientos
stage has given me great satisfaction and
I will always feel proud of having built this
structure the same as this will be remem-
bered by thousands of young people who
Altar of 190 meters
long and
4,000 meters square
From here, we want to show our appre-
ciation to all of those involved in building
this macro-stage where Pope Benedict
XVI celebrated the Vigil on 20 August
and the High Mass on Sunday the
21st. They are: Leticia Ontillera García,
Project assistant; Francisco J. Pelluz
Cuesta, representative of the Madrid
Edifcación III offce; Manuel Martinez
Nebreda, head of the department;
José Page Racionero, Project super-
visor; Fernando Oreja Igartua, Head of
the Technical Offce; Beatriz Hernández
Castanedo, Project technician, and Mi-
guel Ángel Lanchas Jiménez, foreman.
Congratulations to
all who worked on
building the Altar