Madrid Barajas Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Departed September 26th to MIA and returned on October 4th from MIA. Iberia uses Terminal 4S to flights to the US. Checking in at T4 was fine but then got to get a shuttle to 4S. Terminal 4 is full of shops, cafes and restaurants catering for all tastes and pockets. Unfortunately, Terminal 4S has not that choice - very few shops and even less choice for food. Initial security screening was neither fast nor slow. Boarding on the departing flight was late for over 25 minutes and for about 20 minutes there was no announcement in any language! Apart from that all went smoothly. On the return flight getting to passport control involved lots of walking, as Terminal 4 is massive! Passport control is efficient as is baggage claim. Overall, Terminal 4 is a modern, comfortable and very pleasant place to be. Terminal 4S not so! I aim to reflect that in the rating.

Not Verified | Airport was below average. Iberia was terrible. Because of delay of the flight out of Chicago (which was the fault of Iberia), I missed my flight to Munich by 15 minutes. I had to wait 7 hrs for the next flight. The 7 hrs in the terminal were not uneventful. The gate assignment was a disaster. First one end of the terminal, then the other end with no moving walkways. It was a very long walk for my worn out tired knees. I would think twice before flying in to Madrid again. The airport gets 6 out of 10, Iberia Airline 2 out of 10.

✅ Trip Verified | One thing I Iearned, I will never use this airport for connecting flights again. It was so stressful. Pretty airport but an absolute mess. Our flight from Frankfurt to Madrid via Iberia was fine. It was when we landed that the stress began. We had an 1.45 layover. We landed on time but by the time we got off the plane, stood in a crazy disorganized line for customs and security, then had figured out how the heck to catch the shuttle to T4S. Then the super long walk and taking multiple escalators to our gate. We ran to our gate and our flight was already boarding! We had no time to use the restroom or grab a bite to eat. Oh, and they do not announce anything at the airport. So many people missed their fights because of the poor customs and securing screening. The employees did not care. People would kindly ask for help to make their connecting flight, they would just walk away. So rude! Never again!

Not Verified | Childish and Despicable Staff. Our layover from Zagreb was in Madrid back to New York. Note we were only in Spain for a layover and for no other purpose. My grandma is wheelchair bound and the rest of my family including myself do not speak Spanish. Instead of helping us with our multiple flight issues, the staff would simply ignore us, and then proceeded to gossip about us in Spanish right in front of us or in a group of staff away from us, looking, and pointing. I understand little Spanish from elementary school, but I was able to comprehend that they mocked us for “coming to Spain” and not being able to speak Spanish. The laughing and the jokes never ceased to stop. Incredibly rude, unhelpful, and lazy staff, and the (rare) ones who actually seek to help us could not understand or speak English (which is obviously not their fault, and I don’t expect them to). Instead of aiding my wheelchair bound grandmother, the lady assigned instead chose to flirt with another staff member. And it still continued, as one of the staff began gossiping about our family with other Spanish speaking passengers while we constantly heard her laugh behind us. I’ve never met such despicable and unkind staff in my life.

Not Verified | Terminal 1 is the most un-user friendly airport I have ever been in. Very rude security staff. The only place in Europe where it is 90mls and not 100mls for carry on fluids. Although there are no signs to advise, iPads and phones have to each have a separate container to go through the scanners, I had to go back and forward 4 times as no one was very helpful or able to tell me that each electronic device had to go through separately. Departure gates change all the time and no announcements are ever made so you have to constantly watch the screens. Signs for the toilets are not visible and are through duty free. Out of the four vending machines only one was working. There were no food or drink outlets. The security staff should be made to go on a customer service course and I hope they enjoyed my 100ml pates that I had bought as gifts!

✅ Trip Verified | Terrible experience! I had booked an early flight on Air Portugal to Marrakesh (via Lisbon) so my fellow travelers and I could spend the day in Marrakesh before leaving on a three-day tour early the next morning. The connecting flight was delayed, and delayed, and delayed - despite repeated questions, the airport personnel would not provide any useful information about the problem. When it became clear (through our own research) that we would never make our flight in Lisbon, we tried to retrieve our bags so we could book a later flight on another airline. The line to change our tickets moved incredible slowly, of the three people behind the counter only one appeared to know what she was doing. Several people behind us in line left in frustration. We finally got our flight changed and managed to get food vouchers since we would end up spending 15 hours in the airport, but TAP failed to remove one of our bags from the original flight and apparently had no idea where it was. We couldn't even file a complaint to start the process of locating the missing luggage until we arrived in Marrakesh, so there's very little chance of retrieving it before our trip is over. We had to wait two more hours until we could check in for our new flight, and for one of our travelers TAP failed to indicate that we had already paid for a checked bag. She was forced to pay a 60 euro fee and will have to file a complaint in hopes of getting it refunded. With the exception of one employee, the Air Portugal staff were uniformly rude and unhelpful - they lied to our face on at least one occasion. The airport is also extremely uncomfortable, with no feasible places to sleep in Terminals 1 or 2.

✅ Trip Verified | Worst airport for arrival. We arrived from an EU country, so we don’t have to pass passport control. We were driving for twenty minutes in a bus and then we had to wait for our luggage for a record breaking 45 minutes. Airport personnel were absolutely useless as they don’t speak any language except Spanish. No smoking Lounges available anywhere in this airport.

❌ Not Verified | I have been waiting a very long time to pass security screening and I have pressed the red sad face button of the service rating stand. One member of the staff started asking me questions in Spanish on the lines of why did you press that. I told him I don't speak Spanish and continued to walk. He kept walking after me asking questions, in Spanish both to me and my boyfriend who is Spanish and responded we don't want to participate in his survey if that is what he's trying to do. He kept on chasing us down the terminal asking why we don't want to talk to him, basically harassing us when it was clear we were not willing to answer him. I stopped, turn around and asked him to stop following and harassing us. He concluded shouting after us that we were badly educated. Dear Airport, your staff, working in an international airport, wanting to take surveys should speak English or any other language other than Spanish! If I want to take part in your survey I will, if I chose not to, your staff should not insist. I am not answering questions because I am being coerced. Also asking me 100 times the same question who had a no answer the first time, would not make me change my mind!

✅ Trip Verified | Worst airport experience ever! I was traveling with my family to Milan and had to transfer in Madrid. When we arrived the airplane landed on the runway, and there was no assistance for the elderly or people in need. We had to drag our luggage down the metal staircases with no help from the Iberia crew. We requested a wheelchair for my mother, but there was no sign or directions from the crew, again! Finally we were directed to get on the bus, and were told that the wheelchair would be at the entrance of the airport. Once we got there, 10 crew members were hanging around the wheelchair area, but we were told that there was nothing that they could do for us because we had “aparently” taken the wrong bus, and not the “proper wheelchair” bus. They were no help at all! Long story short - After two disorganized check in points, terrible airport signage, and no assistance from multiple airport staff members, we somehow made it to our gate. Just for the Iberia crew to close the door in our faces and missed our flight. Needless to say we were extremely disappointed with the entire staff and airport experience. Advise for airport management - Please hire people who care about the customers, fix the airport signs to be user friendly, get organized, and ensure Iberia has better standards. After all they are your nations airline.

✅ Trip Verified | A nightmare! Only the fact, that this was the first Airport I have been to, where Smoking is absolutely and everywhere prohibited makes this airport to a zero-rated one. But, that's not all. At the entrance of terminal 4 you can still read the Label: "Smoking is everywhere prohibited except for the espacially designated Areas". So you go in, and hope that there are designated areas, where you are allowed to smoke. Well, there aren't any! So custemers will even be cheated and mis-informed! Well done, lazy staff! Take that label off at the entrance at least!