Barcelona Airport

I had the same problem as the last reviewer. If you depart from Gate D and E do not pass through passport control until boarding is about to commence. Instead follow signs to gates A B and C where you can enjoy the shops and eateries. Gates D and E trap you with only a McDonalds and a coffee shop and a surly teenager to serve you. We spent almost 2 hours in this cage looking at the lovely shops from the glass walls and sharing our grumbles with the other frustrated travellers. Absolutely ridiculous system and not something you'd expect from a major European airport.

Terminal 1 - after checking in we were given boarding passes for Gate D. We then proceeded through the security search and saw that gates A B and C were down the escalator and that gate D was to our left and gate E to the right. We could see passports were being checked at D so we proceeded forward. Wrong. Don't go through passport control until you are ready to board your plane. Once through the security check go straight down the escalator to the shops and restaurants. The big glass balcony that houses the security check area and Gates D and E give you the impression that once you have passed through passport control you can still proceed downstairs to the shops and restaurants - you can't. Once we realised our mistake I felt such a fool that I thought I would not be telling anyone until I realised that the balcony had loads of people wandering around wondering how they could now get down to the shopping area. Although the passport booth had a sign saying you cannot return back once having passed through this just conveyed the message to most people that you could not leave the airport. We did not realise it meant you would no longer have access to the shopping/restaurant area! Note to the Barcelona airport authorities: Please get the signage at the check in desks and through security to read "Don't go through passport control until you are ready to board your plane." You are losing revenue with all those people stuck up on the balcony with boarding passes for gates D and E!

I find Barcelona airport somewhat confusing. Coming in from Berlin we followed the sign from the gate for Schengen arrivals only to walk up to a locked door so it was back the other way to wave passports at somewhat bemused passport officers. Then you discover there are signs to three possible baggage delivery areas in Terminal 2 and have to peer at small screens to discover where yours will end up. Driving back to the airport we found ourselves going round in a circle after filling up the hire car - you get to a crossroads and have to guess and we guessed wrong. Once inside check-in was quick enough though there seem to be only very small departure screens to work out which desks you have to go to. Food is extortionate in the departure lounge.

The access to the airport is good but the signage from the motorway is terrible. The check out through arrivals is tortuous and the baggage and passport control very very slow. Coming back through to leave Spain the same problems with the motorway signs but the check in desk was quick. Don't bother with priority boarding as you all get on the same bus to the plane and its an absolute scramble for seats. The food in the departure lounge is extortionately priced and even a simple sandwich will cost you about £5. No simple food and we went hungry until we got back to the UK and bought some good old fish and chips. A burger at Barcelona Airport was £10. Half the shops were shut and the others so expensive we didn't use them.