Growing Tensions as Hundreds Take Shelter at Madrid Airport

‍DALLAS — At Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport (MAD), between 300 and 400 homeless people now sleep each night in its various terminals, according to estimates from security unions and social organizations. 

In an El Correo report, Doménico Chiappe describes how the homeless scatter daily: some wander through the terminals amid travelers, others commute into Madrid to work or seek food, then return to the airport at night.

The security union ASAE claims that the number of people sleeping at the airport has increased dramatically, from 190 in early 2023 to nearly 500 in 2024. They describe a worsening environment. “This is a pressure cooker that has already exploded,” says Antonio Llarena, the union’s general secretary. 

The union is demanding an immediate evacuation of the terminals, citing a rise in fights and confrontations among the homeless and frequent complaints from both passengers and workers about disturbances, theft, and even threats.

Possible Solutions?

To respond, AENA — the public company that manages Spain’s airports — has started taking measures. Power outlets and benches are being removed, and nighttime access to terminals is increasingly restricted to ticketed passengers only. 

An AENA spokesperson confirmed to El Correo that they had notified Madrid’s city council months ago about the potential risk to airport operations and safety.

Inside the terminals, the presence of hundreds of unhoused people is unmistakable. In Terminal 1, clusters of people lie on blankets or sheets of cardboard. Some gather in corners to share cigarettes or warm drinks. 

Many avoid speaking to journalists but express concern about how recent media portrayals have framed them as a threat.

A Reminder of Boston

At the beginning of 2024, dozens of migrant families slept at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) as they waited for permanent shelter. At the time, the Massachusetts Family Welcome Centers sent “roughly 100 to 200 people, in taxis and ride-hailing cars, to sleep in a baggage claim area” at BOS.

A March 2025 report from the Boston Herald states that the “unprecedented” migrant wave that hit BOS “forced airlines to pick up some of the US$779,000 tab covering Massport’s response to the thousands of arrivals.”

According to the report, 5,500 migrants flew into BOS in one year. The situation at MAD, however, goes beyond migration.

A MAD Crisis

Despite the many complaints cited by the ASAE union, one NGO representative explained to El Correo that the MAD homeless crisis was not "a story about danger or criminality — it’s a humanitarian crisis.”  

“By labeling homeless people as aggressors, the conversation shifts away from what matters: the total failure of public institutions to respond with coordinated, long-term solutions.”

The NGO also highlighted that most of the people living at the airport weren't new arrivals; in other words, they're not comprised of purely migrants. Many have been in Madrid for years and were pushed into homelessness by rising rents, job precarity, or sudden personal crises. For them, writes Chiappe, MAD is “simply the last resort” to escape the streets.