Hundreds of homeless people sleeping rough at Spain‘s main airport are to be evicted.
The Spanish airport authority, AENA, has warned that homeless people will have to leave Barajas in Madrid after a reception centre is set up.
The airport will notify that it will not be possible to stay overnight in its facilities, now that the Madrid City Council has activated 150 emergency places in the Latina district of the city.
Since Monday, Madrid council has opened the Pinar de San José centre, equipped with beds, hygiene services, food and social care.
It is in response to the situation generated by the growing presence of homeless people in the airport terminals, especially in recent times.
In a statement, AENA stressed that it does not have powers in the field of social care but is working closely with the city council to facilitate the relocation of the affected people.
It read: ‘The decision to act on the situation in Barajas responds to a reality that has been visible for months: the stay of dozens of homeless people, mostly migrants or asylum seekers, who had begun to use the airport facilities as a night shelter, especially during waves of extreme cold and heat.
‘This situation generated both humanitarian concern and operational problems for the proper functioning of the airport,’ said an AENA spokesman.
The Spanish airport authority, AENA, has warned that homeless people will have to leave Barajas in Madrid after a reception centre is set up.
AENA says the airport cannot and should not become an overnight space for vulnerable people
About 400 people are sleeping rough at Madrid airport, dubbed ‘zombie city’ due to its number of homeless people on drugs
AENA says the airport cannot and should not become an overnight space for vulnerable people, as it does not have the resources or capacity to do so.
‘The objective is to avoid situations of risk, lack of protection and chronification, through direct intervention, social monitoring and orientation to stable resources of the social services system’.
Aena will begin to formally notify those who still spend the night in Barajas about their obligation to leave the premises and the availability of a safe alternative through the new centre.
Notifications will be made in collaboration with social professionals to ‘ensure empathetic and effective communication, in accordance with the vulnerability of the group.’
About 400 people are sleeping rough at Madrid airport, dubbed ‘zombie city’ due to the number of homeless people who are drug addicts or alcoholics.
The situation is reflected at other Spanish airports, including Madrid, Malaga and Tenerife South.
The CCOO union section in the airport authority AENA group has warned of ‘the serious situation that both workers and airport users have been suffering for months, due to the continued and growing presence of homeless people staying in various areas of the airport facilities, especially in the passenger terminals and transit areas.’
The union says that in recent months they have received ‘multiple complaints from workers from different groups, including cleaning, security, handling, customer service, shops, and catering’.
The situation is the same at other Spanish airports, including Madrid, Malaga and Tenerife South
There have been complaints that allege ‘unsanitary conditions, persistent smells, the use of restrooms as overnight areas
Pictures reveal like facilities such as elevators and toilets have been turned into bedrooms
The complaints allege ‘unsanitary conditions, persistent smells, the use of restrooms as overnight areas, accumulation of belongings, occasional aggression, and a lack of effective intervention by the competent authorities.’
It has also warned that ‘this poses a risk to occupational health and creates an environment of tension and insecurity that is absolutely incompatible with the normal conduct of business at an international airport.’
Whilst accepting homelessness is a deep-seated social problem, the union has demanded that the public company, as the manager of these facilities, assume its responsibility to protect the health and safety of its staff and airport users.
