Inside Spain's 'homeless city' airports crisis: New shocking images - including an elevator turned into a BEDROOM - as men who have lived up to SEVEN YEARS in terminals describe nightly violence and crime

Daily Mail​

21-05-2025

New shocking images of Spain 's 'airport cities' have emerged, as homeless residents who have lived in the travel hub's terminals for up to seven years tell of the crime and violence they have endured.
At Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport in the Spanish capital, a 'hidden city' of the homeless has been allowed to balloon over the past 10 years.
Brits have been warned over recent reports of alleged violence, drug use and insect infestations as the terminals have become overrun by the estimated 400 rough sleepers living at the airport.
Last week, pictures and footage taken by MailOnline showed dozens of men and women sprawled out on the floor of Terminal 4, the epicentre of the crisis.
In the latest set of images released of the airport crisis, the travel hub's dwellers are shown sprawled out in mattresses down the airport's corridors, with some seen perched up in spots next to toilet entrances and behind flight displays.
One shocking video shows a rough sleeper lying in a make-shift bed inside a lift.
The bizarre clip shows the moment the elevator's doors open to reveal the unidentified man sleeping on a mattress inside.
Another image shows where a homeless person has set up camp with their dog. A cardboard sign reads: 'Help me please.'
Suitcases and an airport trolly can be seen scattered around his sleeping arrangements.
Other images shared in recent days reveal insect infestations that have plagued Madrid's airport.
This month, state-owned airport authority Aena was forced to fumigate several zones amid fears of a bed bug outbreak.
One video shared to social platform X shows clips of different bugs spotted at the airport, including cockroaches, bed-bugs, and ticks.
Images also show multiple red insect bites on the arms of airport staff.
It comes as Aena announced last week that it would start to limit access to Madrid's airport during some parts of the day as a preventative measure to stop more homeless people from sleeping in its terminals.
From today, only travellers with boarding passes, airport employees and those accompanying someone with a ticket will be allowed to enter the airport from 9pm.
Madrid-Barajas is the largest airport in Spain and manages more than 65 million passengers each year, including hundreds of thousands of Brits.
Some of the airport's residents have told of the horrific conditions they are subjected to while living in its terminals.
Christian Velez, a 70-year-old French man who says he has been living in the Madrid airport for seven years, said he has witnessed horrific crime in the so-called 'homeless city.'
'Recently, another homeless person stole my suitcase with all my belongings, as well as a friend's,' he told Spanish news outlet El Espanol.
In a separate interview with local broadcaster TeleMadrid, Mr Velez said he has to 'sleep with one eye open' because of the high levels of theft among the airport's community.
'You have to be very careful here,' he said.
A former DJ who has been sleeping rough in Madrid-Barajas airport for nearly three has also recounted his experience living in the Spanish capital's 'hidden city.'
'Many of us are suffering in silence,' he said in an emotional interview with broadcaster Antena 3, which has since gone viral in Spain.
He described feeling like a 'wild animal' living in the airport, but said that he no longer feels fear because he is used to the frequent levels of crime and violence.
'I have been robbed, I've been assaulted,' he told cameras.
'You are constantly trying to survive...every day, every minute.'
Spanish media reported earlier this month that some of the occupants have been found carrying knives, machetes and other homemade weapons, while crack and other drug use - and even prostitution - are reportedly common.
Terminal 4 is where the majority of the homeless live after they were relocated there by the authorities, having previously been spread across all of the airport's four terminals.
Fernando, from Peru, has been living at Terminal 4 for several months.
He moved to Spain two years ago in search of a better life, but ended up on the streets when work as a removal man dried up and he couldn't afford his rent.
'You definitely have to sleep with one eye open,' he told MailOnline last week while puffing on a cigarette just outside the arrivals hall.
'There are some bad eggs here who will rob you while you sleep, they usually come out at 3am, they'll take your phone, cigarettes, or whatever they can grab.'
Fernando insisted 'we are not all bad', but admitted there were a 'bad few' who are creating negative media attention.
A person sleeps on the floor of Terminal 4 at Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain, Monday, May 12, 2025
Madrid's city council on Thursday said that it had asked Spain's national government to take charge and come up with a plan to rehabilitate every homeless individual sleeping in the airport
He pointed to a puddle of urine on the floor, which he said was not an uncommon sight.
'Some of them just drink all day and get themselves into a state, they are peeing and going to the toilet where they sleep, off their heads,' he said.
'I sleep in the corner, there is a group of us calm South Americans who look after one another, it can get quite dangerous.
'A lot of the people are working for cash during the day in the black economy, then come back with alcohol and get drunk on whiskey and rum. Many have been living here for years.
'The police come every three or four days and check people's papers and ask some of them to leave - they are checking for people who have criminal records or are wanted by police.'
Fernando says he does not know what the solution is but knows the airport is a 'life saver' for many as it provides a much safer environment than the streets.
He said there are people 'from all over' living here, including Europe.
One sleeping occupant was seen wearing a US Army uniform, while another, clearly intoxicated, was shouting gibberish in English.
A Spanish occupant was seen covered in bite marks, believed to be from bed bugs.
Up to a dozen officers from the National Police were seen checking people's papers along the 'main street' of the 'homeless city', which runs across a hallway by the elevators on the first floor.
'It's not a good time, you don't want to be walking through here,' one officer told MailOnline.
Two security workers told this paper that they are 'not allowed' to speak out on the issue, but that if they could 'boy, we could tell you some things.'
At night, National Police officers are seen donning face masks while patrolling the areas on three-wheeled segways.
Fights between the occupants are rife.
One clearly intoxicated occupant was seen shoving a security guard during the night that MailOnline visited the airport.
He was swiftly escorted back to his sleeping area.
But the airport crisis in Madrid's airport is not an isolated one.
The shocking scenario is now being reflected in other Spanish airports - including Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.
At Malaga airport, it has been alleged that staff have been bitten by fleas and bed bugs but this has been denied by the authorities.
Workers say they have seen the insects 'climbing up the walls' near the departure gates used by millions of Brits.
Airport employees speak of being bitten and having to apply insect repellent before going to work.
The appeal for urgent action is being led by the CCOO union which has publicly denounced the unsanitary conditions and lack of safety endured by workers at Malaga airport due to the presence of homeless people.
For months, a political blame game between officials at different levels of government has meant that the homeless encampments in the airport have largely gone unaddressed.
In recent weeks, videos on social media and news reports of the airport's homeless population put a spotlight on the issue.
Madrid's city council last week said that it had asked Spain's national government to take charge and come up with a plan to rehabilitate every homeless individual sleeping in the airport.
Spanish airports are overseen by AENA, a state-owned publicly listed company.
A city council spokesperson said that Madrid's city government had recently called for a meeting with officials from AENA, the regional government of Madrid and several national ministries that declined.
'Without them, there is no possible solution,' said Lucía Martín, a spokesperson for Madrid's city council division of social policies, family and equality. She said that the national ministries of transport, interior, inclusion, social rights and health declined to participate in a working group.
A day earlier, AENA accused Madrid's city authorities of providing inadequate help and said that the city government's statements about the unfolding situation confirmed its 'dereliction of duty' and abandonment of the airport's homeless individuals.
Madrid city council officials, meanwhile, said that the Spanish capital's social service teams had helped 94 individuals in April with ties to the city, 12 of whom were rehabilitated into municipal shelters, addiction treatment centers or independent living.