According to the Associated Press on the 17th, “In the midst of Spain’s housing crisis, hundreds of homeless people sleep at Madrid airports,” and “rents have risen rapidly, especially in cities such as the capital Madrid and Barcelona.”
According to a Spanish charity, about 400 homeless people are living in Madrid’s airport. Initially limited to the first floor of Terminal 4, the homeless’s bed is now expanding to every corner of every floor. Dozens of homeless men and women are often seen lying on the floor and sleeping throughout the airport.
The Spanish daily El Mundo reported that “homeless people can be seen from any floor and any corner.”
Homeless people occupy all available spaces in the airport, from the restaurant table to the entrance to the bathroom. It is known that most homeless people repeat their daily work during the day and then fall asleep on the airport floor drunk at night.
The problem of peeing everywhere on the floor is also a serious situation as people who are drunk frequently pee in the same place where they are asleep. Spanish media also reported that drug use and prostitution are prevalent within the homeless group.
Additionally, as more employees were bitten by insects, airport authorities called in a pest control company. The company had to disinfect airport corridors, furniture, and check-in conveyor belts to remove bedbugs, ticks, and cockroaches.
Airport authorities have not kicked them out because they have been left unattended.
Spain’s airport operator AENA said it plans to ask people to present their boarding passes in the future to limit who can enter Madrid’s airport during times when there are fewer travelers. Only airport staff and travelers will be allowed in, but it did not say when exactly it will be implemented.
“I’ve never heard of a new policy,” said Teresa, who has been living in Terminal 4 of Madrid’s airport for six months. “If we’re not allowed in, my husband and I will have to sleep on park benches or other public spaces.”
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
