Aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez

I've flown in twice now to Madrid, the first time was to catch a connection to Portugal. This last time was to actually spend time in the country of Espana.

Wow, there's a lot going on at this airport so I'll have to say that if you have any type of physical disability, it can be a bit challenging.

First, you have to take the stairs to disembark from the plane (with your carry-on). Second, you have get on a shuttle bus (with your carry-on). Third, if you want to skip the elevator due to the long lines, you'll have to walk down a couple of flights of stairs (with your carry-on) to get to the tram, which takes you to the luggage carousel and eventually to ground transport.

Now aside from that Ragnar race, the airport itself is very beautiful, architecturally speaking. It's very clean and well lit. The signage is awesome and I never felt bewildered or confused. The luggage carousel area was very spacious and the taxi line was orderly and efficient.

Perhaps I'll fly out of here one day and that'll give me an even better flavor of how it feels to hang out here for a few hours.

My review is restricted to the arrivals and particularly terminal 1. I took a redeye from Newark to Madrid, arriving in the morning. As you'd expect, the walk to immigration is long and winding. When you get through, you'll be in a long line with all the other international arrivals from Europe. That's a bit of a process, but at least the line moved quick and there were at least 3 people working counters.

Fortunately, I didn't check a bag. However, the biggest nuisance from here (which seems to be a trend amongst various countries in Europe) is the lengths required simply to get the Metro. You need to take an escalator up from the exit area and then walk a long and winding path and then eventually walk some more and you'll then walk about a kilometer and finally get to the entrance. Once you get to the entrance, you then have to get yourself a ticket and you can finally travel in peace to your final destination. But that walk was long.

We have flown into and out of this airport several times. Considering how absolutely giant this airport is, it's relatively well organized and has very clear signage. Security & customs are well organized and move quickly, the employees are efficient and don't hassle you much.

If you have time before your flight or during the layover, there are some great spots to grab decent, and relatively inexpensive food and drinks. We got coffee from a smaller independent stand and it was outstanding, about 2.5 euros.

Just a ok airport . For the main airport in Spain should be more impressive. Food and shopping choices are fair.

This airport is unfortunately a nightmare to connect through. I do love the architecture of the airport and its welcoming modern design, the shopping selection is also great but the positive stops here.

International connections have to move from Terminal S to terminals T1-2, 3 and 4 and it is virtually a 25 minutes race. Unfortunately, you need to clear customs and that is another issue. We missed our connection to Portugal the first time we landed. This time we really sprinted, ran, passed in front of everybody. We made our train connection went through several flights of escalators. We made the connection to Dallas but it was crazy. Part of the problems is that the two terminals are miles away on opposite side of the airport and they make you go through the tax free section as well. Hey, commerce first....Otherwise if you have a long connection period you can do some real shopping and enjoy their lounge.

Bottom line this is really one of the craziest stressful connections we have made and it never changes. To make it, you have to ask for understanding at custom and pass in front of the line. Otherwise you will miss your connection as I did. Iberia would not help us. I had to speak to American for 90 minutes to get new tickets issues and plead my case.

I've connected through this airport a couple of times. As you might expect, Iberia rules here. It's a comfortable, memorable, colorful, and artsy airport. The airport logistics were uneventful. Like everywhere else in Spain, the people are respectful and courteous. It's not very scenic around the airport, but you can clearly see Spain's 4 tallest skyscapers in downtown Madrid in the distance. On a December trip, I was quite surprised at how barren and desert-like the surrounding landscape was, but whatever on that.

Madrid, Spain Airport,

Ok, if you can navigate Hartford Jackson AirPort in Atlanta you probably have dajavue!
Arrivals and departures concourse are on completely opposite sides of the airport, you have to travel underground in order to take the airport train to coming or going. It's a big airport! Oh, you'll recognize the rude travelers also.

Im not gonna lie, this place is a mission. But isn't it beautiful ?

The ceilings are artistically wooden frame work all sustained by a gradient colored steel support system. They start off as yellow and work their way through the colors. Since it's a massive hub for all European transfer flights, it's easy to miss your flight because everything is so sparsed out. Plus, they have jamón serrano in cones everywhere which is very distracting for someone like me. There's a smoking area by the McDonald's that doesn't require you to re-enter customs which is clutch info FYI. It's a beautiful airport and so I have learned to make extra time to check in and wander around for grub in between flights here since it's so massive and aesthetically pleasing. They do tend to announce your terminal and gate rather close to the boarding time so make sure you're wearing your indoor jogging shoes for quick maneuvering. Don't skimp out on the duty free area because it's like an upscale demonstration of everything you can imagine and more.

As a miami girl living in a miami world...

I go from dale to vale at this spot & sangria is the soup of the day.

Ole'

This was one of the craziest experiences I have had in a while.

I flew from Boston to Ibiza and had to transfer in Madrid, and Iberia Airlines thought somehow a 1 hour connection for an international flight would work. I'd like to really have a conversation with someone about this because for most people, they would not catch the connecting flight.

Let me tell you now how I made the connection, but barely. Once I landed, it seemed every other international flight landed too, and the immigration line was LONG. Luckily, my gf, who was meeting me in Ibiza and on the same flight over from Madrid, was ahead of me and texted me and said, "You better haul ass."

So what did I do? Cut in front of everybody to get to the head of the line. Everyone was nice about it, and the airport staff were extremely nice. Immigration officer stamped my passport and started whistling, I think he may have seen this all too many times. But, man, he was good-looking, que guapo!

I made a mad dash for the train that would take me to the domestic terminal, which required going down a few floors and waiting for the train. By this time, I had about 10-15min before my plane took off. Who knew I would have to take the train over to the domestic terminal, climb more floors back up to get back to ground floor, then had to do another security check??

And then once all that happened, I had to "exit thru the gift shop (meaning a maze of duty free shops)" and past section H and gates, then section J and gates and then finally make it to section H and gate number was in the 60s.

I basically ran the whole entire way l, soaked in sweat and barely made it onto the flight, but I did make it!! I saw my gf a few rows behind and we both just gave each other this look...

That was so far one of my craziest connections I've ever had (and Ive had some interesting airport stories including being escorted off a flight) and on top of it, I was feeling under the weather and battling a cold.

Madrid Airport, I will never forget you now! Flight back home was way easier and I had a close to 3 hour layover, and that was way more manageable and could also grab a meal without experiencing the whole chicken without a head fiasco!

This airport is spread out but there were very help directions and even signs telling you how far in minutes you were from certain destinations.

My flight was delayed so I had to rush through the airport. I didn't get to see much but it looked like an older international airport.