Spain’s airport authority is set to restrict access to Madrid’s Barajas Airport during certain hours of the day as a precautionary step aimed at preventing an increasing number of homeless people from taking shelter in the terminals.
During these designated hours – and when flight activity is minimal – entry will be limited to passengers with boarding passes, airport staff, and people accompanying ticketed travellers, the state-owned airport operator AENA said late on Wednesday.
Although AENA confirmed that the new access rules will come into effect in the coming days, it did not provide an exact start date or specify the time periods during which the restrictions will apply.
In recent months, Madrid’s airport has become an informal refuge, with homeless people setting up temporary encampments inside some terminals. Sleeping bags and makeshift bedding have appeared near restrooms and along terminal walls, with reports from local media estimating the number of individuals to be in the hundreds.
AENA stated earlier this week that it had reached out to Madrid city authorities for assistance in addressing the issue several months ago, but said that the response so far has fallen short.
‘Airports are not places designed for living in, but rather are infrastructure solely for transit, which in no case offers adequate conditions for overnight stays,’ the airport authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
With the summer travel season approaching, responsibility for the situation has been mired in political wrangling between different levels of government, resulting in little progress.
In 2024, Spain welcomed a record-breaking 94 million international tourists.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
Casi tres meses después nadie sabe todavía quiénes son las 500 personas sin hogar del aeropuerto de Barajas mientras AENA amenazó al Ayuntamiento de Madrid con acciones legales https://t.co/Vd7WLoczpp
— EL PAÍS Madrid (@el_pais_madrid) May 11, 2025
José Luis Martínez Almeida, alcalde de Madrid, desde la Pradera de San Isidro sobre el requerimiento de AENA respecto a la situación de las personas sin hogar que duermen en Barajas: “Quien crea que esto se resuelve en la vía judicial se está equivocando” https://t.co/vVRqw1kQ0I pic.twitter.com/u3ilcHW97T
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) May 15, 2025
Aena anuncia el cierre nocturno de Barajas con restricciones para los ‘sintecho’: solo pasarán a las terminales los viajeros con billete, familiares y trabajadores https://t.co/B3j7Ts2mYu pic.twitter.com/xFvEjw2NQ8
— El Mundo Gran Madrid (@EM_GranMadrid) May 15, 2025
Please support Spain in English with a donation.
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.