According to Aena sources, access to the terminals of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport will be restricted to passengers and accompanying persons during certain time slots. This measure was taken in response to the situation caused by the large number of people living and staying overnight in the facilities. This has sparked an exchange of criticism between the central government, the Community of Madrid, and the city council, which is why the administration should actively address the situation, which affects a vulnerable group.
To prevent the situation from worsening, the airport operator will strengthen the available operational measures by tightening existing access controls during time slots with low flight activity. This will allow passengers with boarding passes and their accompanying persons, both upon departure and arrival, to access the airport terminals, as well as airport employees.
Aena points out that airports are not viable places, but infrastructures designed “exclusively for transit” and in no way offer suitable conditions for overnight stays. In this context, the airport operator had already warned the City Council and the Community of Madrid months ago that the number of overnight stays at the airport facilities was increasing and called on both institutions to resolve the problem.
Aena believes that the actions taken by the Madrid City Council in recent months have been “clearly inadequate.” The public statements made by its political leaders have confirmed the neglect of their duties and thus the helplessness of the homeless who spend the night at the airport, the agency stated.
Against this backdrop, Aena formally submitted a “legal request” to the Madrid City Council, as the competent authority, on Wednesday to meet the housing needs of these people, “in accordance with the legal responsibilities incumbent upon the Consistory.”
The company’s president, Maurici Lucena, announced last Friday that the airport operator would take this decision as the first step in the controversial administrative process to ensure that the city council “fulfills its legal obligations as a responsible public administration” towards the group of homeless people living and staying at Madrid Airport’s facilities.
In any case, Aena emphasized that it will continue to collaborate with public administrations and third-sector social institutions to provide people experiencing homelessness with access to decent housing solutions and to “ensure the proper functioning” of airport operations.
Aena has repeatedly publicly expressed its concern about the social situation of this vulnerable group. “It is a very sensitive issue that must be handled with the utmost care. We are talking about a vulnerable social group that, in many cases, is experiencing a painful life situation that deserves everyone’s understanding and solidarity,” Lucena emphasized.
Lucena also emphasized that the legislation regulates “very clearly” who has the obligations regarding social services and stressed that the distribution of responsibilities at the airport, which is considered infrastructure of general interest, is “very well defined.”
