Spain to limit access to Madrid airport for non-travellers because of homeless encampment problem

A person sleeps on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Diego Radames/Europa Press via AP)

MADRID -- Spain’s airport authority will start to limit access to Madrid’s airport during some parts of the day as a preventive measure to stop more homeless people from sleeping in its terminals.

Only travellers with boarding passes, airport employees and those accompanying someone with a ticket will be allowed to enter the airport during hours with few departing and arriving flights, Spain’s airport authority AENA said late Wednesday night.

AENA said the limits would be implemented sometime in the the next few days, but did not specify exactly when or during what hours of the day.

For months, the Spanish capital’s airport has seen homeless encampments in some of its terminals with individuals in sleeping bags occupying space near walls and bathrooms. Local media described the number of homeless people to be in the hundreds.

This week, AENA said it had asked Madrid city officials for help in addressing the problem months ago, but so far has received insufficient help.

“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,” AENA said in a statement Wednesday.

A political blame game between authorities at different levels of government has left the issue largely unaddressed before the peak summer travel season.

Spain received a record 94 million international tourists in 2024.