'An eyesore': thousands protest against Spanish cathedral's new doors

Planned update to Burgos Cathedral prompts online petition signed by more than 31,000 people

Plans to mark the 800th anniversary of Burgos's magnificent gothic cathedral with three enormous new bronze doors have ushered in an unholy row, with Unesco advising against the project and critics attacking the 1.2m portals as an artistic outrage".

Cathedral authorities in the northern Spanish city say the new doors, designed by the renowned, award-winning artist Antonio Lopez, are a work of contemporary art that will complement a monument already rendered in five artistic styles that are the fruit of each stage of its eight centuries". They also point out that the current wooden doors are old and in a poor state of repair.