Latest news with #MadridBarajas
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
A warning to Britain: Brought to its knees by a crackpot, Net Zero-obsessed socialist government, dystopian Spain offers a chilling vision of our possible future
Even the armed police patrolling Madrid-Barajas airport are wary of the rough sleepers who have turned Terminal 4 into a dosshouse. 'Be careful,' a young, clean-shaven officer warned when the Mail visited this week. 'It can be dangerous here – this is zombieland.' With an annual headcount of 65million passengers, Spain 's biggest airport has long been used to human traffic. But Barajas has now turned into a so-called 'hidden city' – thanks to the spiralling number of homeless people taking over its halls. In the past decade, the number of rough sleepers here has swelled from about 50 people to as many as 500. Unsurprisingly, the increase has sparked a rise in drink-related violence and other anti-social behaviour as well as reports of weapons, rampant drug use – including crack cocaine – and even prostitution. It's not exactly the stuff of holiday brochures and that cheesy 1970s pop hit Y Viva España. No one would describe Terminal 4 as a pretty picture. By 7.30pm, the'unauthorised occupants' – as the rough sleepers are diplomatically named by the authorities – start turning in for the night. Ranging in age from early 30s to late 60s, most of them bed down one level below the check-in area using blankets, sheets of cardboard or – for the lucky few – sleeping bags. The prime spots are located next to power sockets, where mobile phones can be charged and kettles boiled. Almost everyone has an airport trolley weighed down with battered suitcases and carrier bags. Among them is a Peruvian woman in her 60s who has been sleeping at the airport for the past year. 'I got robbed and lost all my documentation, so I have been scraping by and flitting around ever since,' she says. 'Basically, the little money I have isn't enough to live on outside of the airport.' Others, perhaps with darker tales to tell, are less inclined to talk. But a 67-year-old Spanish man exclaims: 'I was in full-time employment for 50 years. I lost my job and I've no pension left. That's how I ended up in this situation.' Trailing off, he adds: 'The problem here is Pedro Sanchez . . .' That is Spain's 53-year-old prime minister – a man who looms large in this increasingly dismal picture. For the chaotic scene at the airport has become a horrifying illustration of the country's decline since his socialist government took power in 2018 and which should serve as a disturbing warning to Britain. As any holidaymaker visiting the EU's sixth-largest economy in recent months will have observed, it is not just limited to Terminal 4. This week, tourists described 'watching in horror' as a homeless man stabbed a stranger in the neck at Palma airport on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. Carlos Heriberto Beltran Perdomo, a 45-year-old man from El Salvador, who is believed to be among dozens sleeping rough at the airport, later appeared in court over the attack. But the shocking scenes of poverty don't end there. Chronic housing shortages, spiralling migration and the highest unemployment rate on the continent have seen tensions rise across Spain. That's before we recall the devastating flash floods around the city of Valencia on the southwestern coast, which killed more than 200 people last November, as well as last month's power outage, which saw hospitals, shops and banking networks wiped out and led to the deaths of three people. Both events have been widely linked to Spain's demented, dysfunctional push for Net Zero. It doesn't take a particularly keen-eyed observer to see the cautionary parallels with Britain's Government today. Sir Keir Starmer and key Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, are intent on pursuing a slyly Left-wing agenda on economics and energy. Yet these are broadly the policies that Sanchez's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party has been implementing since coming to power and which are now wreaking havoc. So how exactly did it all go wrong for Spain? And is it in danger of losing its allure entirely? As far as Britons are concerned, the attraction dates back to the 1950s and the dawn of the package holiday. With its miles of golden beaches, 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and cheap sangria, Spain quickly became our favourite overseas destination. Even now, it remains our most popular choice. Of British travellers' 86.2million journeys abroad in 2023, around one in five (17.8million) were to Spain, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. But recent anti-tourist demonstrations are perhaps the clearest sign yet that the long-running love affair between Britain and Spain is heading for the rocks – in itself a knock-on effect of the country's major domestic problems. By far the biggest issue has been housing. Rents have risen by 74 per cent nationwide over the past decade, figures show. Almost half of tenants spend 40 per cent of their income on rent and utility bills compared to the EU average of 27 per cent, a recent Bank of Spain report reveals. While social housing makes up just 2.5 per cent of Spain's domestic property stock, some 3.8million homes – 14 per cent of the total supply – are vacant, largely after being snapped up by overseas buyers. These concerns have played a major part in the anti-tourist protests which have exploded this year in Barcelona, the Balearic Islands and, just last week, in the Canary Islands. Indeed, Sanchez yesterday confirmed he would push ahead with plans to hit Britons with a 100 per cent tax when buying holiday homes since – by his own admission – 'we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with'. Elsewhere, tensions have grown over Spain's unemployment rate which – at 11 per cent – is the highest in Europe. This is even worse among the under-25s, more than a quarter of whom don't have a job. Jorge Calero, a credit controller from Madrid, explains the rage: 'Lots and lots of people in Spain are not in a good place. The housing situation is a real disgrace. It is really difficult to get a place to live. I'm not too far off 30 and I have to share a place with three other guys. I really don't see a time when I will be able to afford a home of my own.' He adds: 'I'm lucky that I have a job. I know plenty of people who are well qualified and genuinely want to work, but they just can't get anything that is even vaguely suitable. 'And the wages in most sectors are pretty low. The cost of living in Spain might not be as high as other places, but you still need money to live.' Migration, too, has become a crunch issue, with Sanchez unveiling plans last October to make it easier for migrants to integrate into the labour market and cut red tape for residency applications. Now, of the 49million population, nearly one in five was born abroad and close to 900,000 come from Morocco. But while the Spanish public has traditionally taken a liberal approach to the incoming population, a poll commissioned by the Left-wing El Pais newspaper last October found that 57 per cent believe there is now 'too much' immigration. It all paints a dismal portrait of Sanchez's political stance. His drive for Net Zero came under the spotlight internationally after the blackout, which saw mainland Spain and neighbouring Portugal plunged into mayhem. Communications networks were paralysed, transport ground to a halt and panic buyers stripped supermarket shelves bare. This week, claims emerged that officials had 'covered up' evidence linking the 23-hour outage to Spain's reliance on renewable energy. More than half of the country's electricity is now generated from solar and wind. One of the green push's few dissenters is Jordi Sevilla, who served as chairman of Red Electrica, which runs the national grid, until 2020. He says that the current government's plan for the grid has involved 'too much renewable messianism' and 'turning a deaf ear to the technical problems associated with such an important change in Spain's energy mix'. Another expert, Antonio Turiel, of the state-owned Spanish National Research Council, warns that the system is vulnerable due to the 'haphazard integration of a host of renewable systems'. Indeed, just this week, EU sources told the Daily Telegraph that authorities had been conducting an experiment before the system crashed to investigate how far they could push the country's reliance on renewables before Spain phases out its nuclear reactors from 2027. If that wasn't alarming enough, Red Electrica is currently overseen by Beatriz Corredor, a political ally of Sanchez who has no previous experience in the electricity sector and whose reported six-figure salary is six times higher than that of the prime minister. Yet, despite these misgivings and cover-up claims, there is no sign of any let-up in Spain's relentless drive for renewable energy. Quite the opposite, in fact. The authorities are determined to cover 81 per cent of the country's electricity demands using green power by 2030. For his part, Sanchez is resolute. 'In Spain, the future of energy lies in other sources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind and green hydrogen,' he has declared. 'Renewables are not only the future; they are our only choice.' Four hours from Madrid, I visit Valencia, the country's third biggest city. As well as its pristine beaches, aquarium and 13th-century cathedral, it is home to the Requiem in Power project: a plan to create the country's largest urban solar farm by carpeting three cemeteries with 6,600 photovoltaic panels. More than 800 of these unsightly metallic panels – each covered in cells which absorb sunlight to convert into electricity – have already been slapped over the top of window-sized 'nicho' graves lining the cemeteries' walls. None of the relatives of the deceased were asked about what they thought about the project before work started because, according to city official Carlos Mundina, the graveyards are 'publicly owned' and the authorities 'don't need to consult anyone'. But it doesn't stop there. In the southern rural province of Jaen, 100 olive farmers have been forced from their land to make way for a 900-hectare solar park. The plan, which will see 40,000 olive trees cut down, has already sparked outrage – as Natalia Corbalan, the spokeswoman for agricultural lobby group SOS Rural, tells the Mail. 'We're seeing farmers who have no say whatsoever and are being forced to hand over their land,' she says. 'We're not talking about farmers who are willingly giving up their lands on promises of money for the next 30 years. 'The energy companies are pressuring them into giving up their land in exchange for an amount of money that is nothing to write home about – around €3,000 per hectare – and are telling them that if they don't agree to do so, the land will be categorised as land of national interest and end up being expropriated. 'These farmers can't sue either because lawsuits are lengthy and costly, and we're talking about people who perhaps haven't got the resources to fight against an army of lawyers. 'It's David against Goliath, the weak against the strong.' And the wider repercussions for the country could be even more dire, as Ms Corbalan highlights. 'When you transform fertile agricultural land to make way for solar panels, the change is irreversible,' she warns. 'We need a system that guarantees us food in extreme situations, like the one we suffered during the Covid crisis, or in certain times of difficulty, like the one caused by the power blackout. 'If we carry on the way we are, we risk suffering a food blackout.' All of which paints a gloomy picture indeed for Spain's once-glittering socialist dream. And, as I watch yet more rough sleepers preparing to bed down at Terminal 4, I can only hope Britain isn't next.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Daily Mail
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
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 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.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside airport's 'homeless city': How terminals used by thousands of Brits every year have been taken over by drug addicts and rough sleepers
It's the kind of disturbing footage you would expect to see in a fentanyl-ravaged neighbourhood in the United States. A woman, extremely hunched over, shuffles along at a snail's pace while her long black hair drapes towards the ground. But this is not San Francisco nor Philadelphia, it's Madrid-Barajas airport in Spain, where a 'hidden city' of the homeless has been allowed to balloon over the past 10 years. The number of 'unauthorised occupants' - as they are called by the authorities - at the airport has gone from around 50 to almost 500. While rough sleepers are nothing new at the travel hub, a recent spike in alleged violence and drug use among the community is becoming somewhat of a PR nightmare for tourism bosses, who fear holidaymakers could be put off travelling to the capital city. This month, state-owned airport authority Aena was forced to fumigate several zones amid fears of a bed bug outbreak. Madrid-Barajas is the largest airport in Spain and manages more than 65 million passengers each year, including hundreds of thousands of Brits. But tourists arriving at the airport this week were visibly shocked by what they saw, with one overheard commenting: 'This looks like a disaster zone.' Pictures and footage taken by MailOnline show dozens of men and women sprawled out on the floor of Terminal 4, the epicentre of the crisis. The 'occupants' are seen sleeping on every level of the terminal and in any spot they can find, including next to toilet entrances, behind the flight display screens and at restaurant tables. It is so overwhelming for staff that they are considering filing complaints with the Ministry of Labour, citing the 'more than obvious risk' to their wellbeing, reports Spanish paper El Debate. According to Spanish reports, 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 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. 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. In a statement this week, the UGT trade union demanded 'an urgent, coordinated, and effective response that guarantees both workplace and public safety, as well as dignified care for the affected group.' It read: 'Workers are exposed to dangerous situations in an environment that has not been designed or prepared for this type of problem. 'Travelers themselves, unaware of this situation, are also suffering the consequences, facing an environment of insecurity unbecoming of a key infrastructure for the country.' It blasted authorities for failing to tackle the issue, 'neither Aena, nor the Community of Madrid, nor the Madrid City Council, whose mayor has classified these people as 'political refugees,' it fumed. It said those living at the airport are referred to as 'unauthorised occupants' and are 'people with very diverse profiles: without financial resources, with mental disorders, alcohol or drug addiction problems.' The ASEA trade union has called for a series of bans in public areas of the airport, including 'staying overnight, residing, wandering around, or using passenger rest areas' without flight documentation. But Gaspar Garcia, an NGO worker who has been feeding the homeless at the airport for years, blamed the airport's relocation of the occupants as being behind a surge in incidents. 'The current situation of the homeless at Barajas Airport is tougher than ever,' he told RTVE this week. 'Instead of seeking housing or inclusion solutions, they have decided to relocate them to a very specific area - on the first floor of Terminal 4 - without basic conditions: no cleanliness, no security, no opportunity for real rest.' Garcia is head of the Despega project at the Bokatas NGO. He accused several media outlets of 'exploiting' the tensions between the homeless 'to criminalise them.' He also said authorities have been purposefully making life for the homeless more difficult in the hopes they will leave the airport. He said: 'Benches and electrical outlets have been removed, sleeping hours have been limited... they've even prohibited us from bringing food from organisations like Bokatas, which was one of the few things they had left. It's a strategy of attrition, to force them to leave the airport without giving them any alternative.' Meanwhile, a blame game continues to engulf the different governing bodies. President of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, this week warned of an 'international buzz' surrounding the crisis. According to respected Spanish daily El Mundo, the regional government fears airlines and countries like the UK will begin warning tourists about the risks they are exposed to at Barajas Airport. 'I sleep in the corner, there is a group of us calm South Americans who look after one another, it can get quite dangerous,' an occupant said Laura Martinez Cerro, Director General of Tourism and Hospitality for Madrid, told the newspaper: 'The situation at Barajas Airport could harm the tourist image of the Community of Madrid, eroding the perception of security so valued by visitors and to which so much effort is put.' The airport technically falls under the administration of Madrid City Council, but the regional government of the Community of Madrid admits it is affected by the ongoing incidents - and is also blaming the national government for 'not doing enough'. 'We're going to try to do whatever it takes,' Madrid President Ayuso said this week. 'As long as there's even one person sleeping on the floor of the airport due to this situation, we can't stand idly by and think this situation is over.' But Ayuso said the national government, led by Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, could be doing more In a statement this week, the UGT trade union demanded 'an urgent, coordinated, and effective response that guarantees both workplace and public safety, as well as dignified care for the affected group' According to respected Spanish daily El Mundo, the regional government fears airlines and countries like the UK will begin warning tourists about the risks they are exposed to at Barajas Airport However, Ayuso said the national government, led by Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, could be doing more. 'These are Aena facilities,' the conservative leader said, blasting Sanchez's 'blatant refusal to act' with 'all necessary means'. Aena, the authority that manages most of Spain's airports, is state-owned. 'It's an inhumane situation for these people, and certainly Madrid and Spain as a whole don't deserve that image,' she added.
