Complete Chaos!!! (Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD))

Member Name: jaylad

Product:	Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD)
Date:	10/06/01 (576 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Errrr

Disadvantages: Confusing layout, overcrowded, where are the signs???

The airport at Madrid is an absolute nightmare! If you aren’t confused in this place then it’s a miracle or your very relaxed!

We arrived on a connecting flight from Tenerife. We were getting another flight to Heathrow from here. We landed on time (flying Iberia) and we used steps to disembark the plane (the cheek of it!). We then had to wait about on the tarmac for about 10 minutes until a bus arrived. Meanwhile there were passengers wandering underneath the aircraft and looking into the engines of the one parked next to us, I can’t believe everyone was allowed to do this. There were loads of young teenagers on our flight and they jumped onto the baggage van and tried to drive it off, thank god for the driver quickly running back! One kid even hung from the wing of the neighbouring plane and nobody could care less.

We got on this bus and were packed in like sardines. The driver then drove us in true Spanish style like he was in the Mexican Grand Prix but it still took us 15 minutes to drive what seemed like right across the airport. We then arrived at a doorway to the terminal and we got off. Again, anyone could literally walk round the bus and straight onto the runway! We entered the terminal and it was chaos. A similar description would be like entering the Trocedero centre in London with loads of noise, flashing lights, and hundreds and hundreds of people walking about in a mad scramble.
I tried translating the signs (they are in English but they still need translating!) so that I could find the way to the ‘flight connection centre’. Thinking that it would be similar to the Heathrow one, we managed to stumble across it after about 20 minutes of looking. There was a tiny door that we entered, this then led us to a hall where there were yet more crowds to squeeze through.
There was one member of staff and apparently he had to see everyone’s passport for some crazy reason. There must have been about 700
people all battling it out to speak to this guy. Luckily I fought my way to the front and yelled ‘London flight?’ and he then pointed to a doorway. We walked over and up the stairs to the madness of the departure lounge and tried to locate the boarding gate for our flight to Madrid. The departure monitors are so confusing its easier asking someone. So you look around for someone and its no surprise there’s no staff to be seen. After finding a member of staff, you still have to fight your way through the people (it was about 10pm) and I just don’t know how they handle this amount of people walking about the place!

Shops wise, there are loads, but are they open? This is a Spanish airport don’t forget and it seems never ending siestas are a common thing. There were a few gift shops that were open but these were only of the cheap and tacky type.

The actual terminal itself looks as if it was built years ago by some designer who was obsessed with concrete. Badly laid out, few signs, and the decoration dates back to the sixties. There were still signs up advertising Pan Am!!!!
The terminal seats were terrible, designed for minimum comfort and maximum back pain that I think I am still suffering from!!

Eventually we found our gate, only to take another bus half way across the airport again to board the stupid plane – what is it about confusion, buses, and lots of complexity that the Spanish love???!

Summary: