US EditionHomeless seek refuge at Madrid airport as rents soar
- Around 421 homeless people, including Victor Fernando Meza, slept overnight at Madrid's Barajas airport in March 2025 amid rising rents and limited shelter availability.
- The surge in homeless residents at the airport stems from soaring housing costs in Madrid, where average rent almost doubled over a decade, and scarce social housing worsened the crisis.
- The situation has revealed conflicts between Madrid’s right-leaning municipal leadership, the state-run airport authority Aena, and local officials who are debating their roles in providing social support.
- Meza expressed a desire for privacy and respect, insisting that those affected should be seen with dignity rather than disdain, while holding Aena responsible for failing to properly address the humanitarian crisis at Barajas.
- Both parties have decided to employ a consulting firm to identify and analyze individuals sleeping in the airport, with findings anticipated by the end of June, though local residents remain skeptical that effective solutions will result amid the ongoing attention.
44 Articles
44 Articles
The pressure measures implemented by Aena and aimed at ending the situation of the homeless installed at the terminals of the airport of Barajas, such as asking for tickets...
Malay Mail
AlKhaleej TodayFrom Spain’s busiest airport to shelter of last resort: Where Madrid’s homeless rest as rent soars
BARAJAS (Spain), June 2 — Victor Fernando Meza works during the day, but his salary is not enough to afford rent in the Spanish capital Madrid. So, once again, the 45-year-old Peruvian will spend the night at the airport. On a sweltering May evening, Meza arrived at Barajas airport before 9:00 pm – just in time to get past security. Any later, and people without a boarding pass are not allowed in under a new policy implemented a week ago to dete…
Madrid, Spain. Peruvian Victor Fernando Meza works, but does not earn enough to pay rent in Madrid, so he is spending another night at the airport of the city. It is a very hot afternoon in May and has arrived before 9:00 p.m., when he would no longer have been allowed to enter without a ticket.This is a measure imposed a week ago to make it difficult for hundreds of people to spend the night at the airport, a matter that has come to light with …
From the Italian airport of Fiumicino to the central Syntagma square, in front of the Greek Parliament, through the airport of Barajas, homeless people occupy the margins of some of the busiest spaces in Europe. It is not a new phenomenon, but it is increasingly visible. Last March, the crisis broke out in Barajas. Until the end of 2023, there were 177 homeless people sleeping in the Madrid airport. According to figures obtained by El País, they…
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