Barcelona Airport

✅ Trip Verified | We had arrived at El Prat and passed through security, waiting for Vueling flight Barcelona to Lisbon. Departure 12.05pm. After 10.00am the flight schedule board (main board on the right), shows the flight with a message saying ‘more information in 15 minutes’. 12.05pm the message has never changed, so we go to investigate, to find out why the flight has been delayed. Vueling staff inform us it has left! We find out that we now need to go out of the departures part of the airport, through security, to start again. Vueling confirms there is no refund on the tickets. The information desk is not very helpful, but eventually we find someone who tells us where we can get tickets for a later flight to Lisbon, with TAP. 13.00pm We go back through security and back to the same terminal to wait for the flight. We note that the same message regarding the Vueling flight is still on the board. So we take some photographs. We than go to the Aena Information Desk close by to report this, and the representative confirms that she already knows it is not working! Why has no one switched it off or put up a warning sign? They apologise and we complete the Claim / Complaint form. 15.30pm We finally leave El Prat, the most stressful 4 or 5 hours we have ever had. They have never acknowledged this was their fault, never apologised and never offered any compensation. Just arrogant and aggressive.

✅ Trip Verified | Horrible, unnecessary and distressing experience. Once you go through passport control you have no access to any of the decent shops. And if you’re a smoker, you can’t access the smoking area either. Nobody tells you this of course! Had it not been for the help of a genuinely kind and compassionate passenger who spoke Spanish I probably would be in Spanish jail right now for daring to ask the police and security for help. Hostile and deeply unpleasant environment. Such a shame it spoiled a very lovely trip to the city itself. I work at Heathrow and if any of my colleagues treated customers the way I’ve been treated today I would be appalled. Awful, awful airport.

Not Verified | Check in and luggage drop was smooth as there were not many people. The staff who attended to us were good. We intended to do some last minute shopping at the airport only to realise that we can’t because we couldn’t access the shopping area from our departure (gate D). We could only see the shops! There was no notice to inform the passengers that shopping areas are only available at gate A, B and C. Barcelona airport, don’t you want money from the tourists? Gate D only has burger kings, tax free shops which are the same everywhere, and 2 food outlets. Dissappointed with the airport!

✅ Trip Verified | I’m very disappointed in the way this airport is managed. Always delays (I fly 2 times per month from there) unfriendly staff and dirty unmaintained toilets

✅ Trip Verified | The setup for non-Schengen departures can easily separate you from all but a single cafe and duty-free store with limited hours. Once through security follow the signs for A,B,C gates to go down the escalators and enjoy the full variety of restaurants. Look ahead to see how long the passport queue is to allow enough time to come back up the escalators and pass through immigration. Both security and immigration queues for both our early-morning arrival and late evening departure were almost non-existent. I had to alert one of the security staff to our presence when we got the queue as there was no-one ahead of us. All the staff we encountered were courteous and efficient. I don't expect security or immigration officials to be particularly friendly and none of them were.

✅ Trip Verified | Terrible signage, unhelpful staff, filthy bathrooms. We arrived early for our flight and went through passport control as normal at any airport. Unfortunately, once you have gone through passport control for gates D & E you are now unable to access any of the quality food and shopping options. There is no signage to indicate what you are in for and no opportunity to go back. Congratulations, you are now stuck in the dingy, third rate upper tiers with its low-end food options and execrable toilets. Prepare yourself for staff to smirk in your face as you ask them if there is any way in which they might assist you. Great city. Garbage airport.

Not Verified | The airport was poorly signed. No indication given that once you are through passports control you are ushered straight to a smaller area for departure gates with no access to shops or range of eating places. It would have been helpful to know that as we arrived at the airport very early to ensure we got there due to protests occurring during our visit to Barcelona. Very disappointing airport experience.

✅ Trip Verified | The worst airport ever, sent straight to gate by staff, we were really early for our flight but not allowed to go to the shops or nice restaurants. We were not offered a choice. Staff just ushered us to passport control straight from security. As no other airport operates like this we didn’t question it. Not happy. Very few information signs too.

✅ Trip Verified | Terminal 1 is a modern, bright and clean terminal. Terminal 2 in the check in area is horrible. Besides being old, it was dirty. Signage is poor and there was no one that could provide us with information on where we needed to go. The bus driver that transferred us between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 couldn't not even provide simple information like which area in the 3 terminal building 2 A, B or C that you had to go for a specific airline. They had information booths in both terminal buildings and in terminal 1 the information clerk provided us with incorrect information and in terminal 2 we got the correct information and reported to the desk which supposedly was connected with Air Transat. The sign on the window of the office stated that they were not an information centre and then the girls behind the counter were completely unhelpful. I have been in a lot of airports across the world and this was the worst.

✅ Trip Verified | Such a spacious airport, very clean. Plenty of shops and places to eat (and not so expensive). Also, the airport is quite easy to navigate (despite this tendency at Spanish airports to have letter combinations that can be confusing). I wish you good luck if you want to charge your phone or laptop, though. It is the only lowdown.