Major airport in Spain wants to make passengers show their boarding pass to use toilets: 500 people sleep rough in its terminals

PASSENGERS flying through Madrid’s Barajas Airport may soon need to scan their boarding pass to use the toilet under a new system being trialled by airport authorities.

Aena, the airport management company, is testing the pilot scheme in a family bathroom at Terminal 4, with plans to potentially expand across the airport’s facilities.

The system would require travellers to use their boarding pass as a ‘key’ to enter toilet facilities, as they are also required to do when making purchases in duty free.

According to airport sources, the initiative aims to ensure that toilets are ‘always in the best conditions of use’ and improve bathroom maintenance while at the same time ‘controlling who has access.’

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The proposal comes at a challenging time for Barajas Airport, which has been dealing with a population of around 500 individuals living in its terminals.

A tragic incident on March 20, in which a 60-year-old undocumented man died at the airport, has further highlighted the problems the airport is facing.

“Airports are designed and equipped for passenger traffic and, therefore, are not prepared for people to live there,” an Aena spokesperson said of the matter.

“Aena is waiting for the social services of the City Council and the Community of Madrid to provide a solution to the sensitive situation of these people.”

Aena insists the new bathroom access system is simply a technological solution to improve facility management, with sources stating their primary goal is to provide the best possible service to passengers.