Madrid airport will demand to see boarding passes at night to tackle homeless crisis

MADRID airport will use a private security firm from Wednesday evening to cut down on homeless people sleeping overnight in its terminals.

Airport operator Aena says the move is about stopping any non-traveller or worker from accessing, wandering or spending the night inside their facilities.

The controls will run daily between 9.00pm and 5.00am.

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One five entrances will remain open in Terminal 1, 2 and 3 and four in T4.

The new security staff will be deployed at the entry doors.

The plan was announced a week ago due to the ‘insecurity and unhealthiness’ in the airport, especially in T4, which Aena has complained about since February.

People who are not employees and don’t have a ticket/boarding pass, will not be allowed to stay but this opens up a contradiction.

Aena has said that family members and friends will be able to greet arrivals, even though they have no flight documentation.

Unions have already expressed their concerns about allowing a private company to perform ‘removal’ duties.

For months, a political blame game between officials at different levels of government has meant the rising number of homeless encampments in the airport have largely gone unaddressed.

In recent weeks, videos on social media and news reports of the airport’s homeless population have put a spotlight on the issue.

It’s not known exactly how many homeless people have been sleeping at the airport but a charity in a recent count identified around 400 stayers.