MADRID: Every night at 6 am, Teresa travels to work, take a bath, and get some practice before going home. That has been End 4 of Madrid’s international airport for roughly six weeks. One of the estimated hundreds of poor people sleeping in the Spanish city’s airport is Teresa, 54, who chose not to use her whole title because of health concerns. This is one of the growing housing shortage in Spain, where hire costs have increased especially quickly in cities like Madrid, the government’s money, and Barcelona. She and other passengers have reported having sleeping bags, blankets, shopping carts, and bags in the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport, which is the third-busiest airport in Europe in 2023, and that authorities have been unable to assist them with finding other living arrangements or have kicked them out of the corners of the airport where they have scurried for months. Soon, things might alter.
Entry restrictions
Spain’s airport operator AENA announced this week that it would start requiring visitors to present their boarding passes in order to enter Madrid’s airport during low-travel hours. The policy was announced by AENA, but it wouldn’t say when exactly, but it would take effect in the upcoming days. It stated that circumstances would be made for airport staff and anyone who was traveling with a traveler. The Associated Press was informed on Thursday that Teresa, a Spanish-Ecuadorian who claimed to have lived in Spain for a quarter-century, had not heard of the new policy. If she and her husband are not permitted to return inside, they would be forced to sleep on benches in parks and other public spaces. We are unable to demand anything. We’re squatters, Teresa said, referring to a controversial term that’s common in Spain. ” Squatters in private property,” We are aware of that. Not a single one has arrived for us, but we want assistance from the authorities.
Political game of blaming
The homeless encampments in the airport have largely gone unaddressed after months of political blame-play between officials at various levels of government. In recent weeks, the issue has been highlighted by videos on social media and news reports about the airport’s homeless population. On Thursday, Madrid’s city council announced that it had approached Spain’s national government to take control and develop a plan to rehabilitate every homeless person who slept in the airport. Spanish airports are managed by AENA, a publicly traded, state-owned company. A representative for the city council claimed that Madrid’s city government had recently scheduled a meeting with representatives from AENA, Madrid’s regional government, and a number of national ministries who had objected. There is no possible solution without them, according to Lucia Martin, a spokesperson for Madrid’s city council division of social policies, family, and equality. She claimed that the national ministries of transportation, interior, inclusion, social rights, and health declined to take part in a working group. A day earlier, AENA claimed that Madrid’s city officials had failed to provide adequate assistance and that the city government’s statements about the situation had confirmed its “dereliction of duty” and abandonment of the airport’s homeless people. According to Marta Cecilia Cardenas,” It’s like a dog is chasing its tail,” she compared the lengthy list of authorities who could assist her. Cardenas, a 58-year-old unemployed Colombian woman, claimed to have slept in Madrid’s airport for several months.
Exact numbers are unknown.
How many people are sleeping in the airport in Madrid, where 66 million people traveled last year? A recent count by a charity group in Spain’s El Pais newspaper revealed that about 400 homeless people were found in the airport, many of whom, like Teresa, had previously resided in Madrid and had some form of employment. That number was not confirmed by AP. Meanwhile, Madrid city council officials reported that 94 people with ties to the city had been aided by the social service teams working there in April. 12 of those were rehabilitated into municipal shelters, addiction treatment facilities, or independent living.
Word of mouth
Teresa claimed she had heard about sleeping in the airport from word-of-mouth recommendations. She claimed that she made a living by taking care of older people in an apartment in Madrid’s Leganes neighborhood before losing her job. She currently works under the table caring for an older woman and makes 400 euros ( USD 450 ) per month. Teresa claimed that she still lives in a storage unit in the same neighborhood where she once resided. She claimed that despite the sporadic work, it was still sufficient to cover costs for the gym, where she takes a daily shower, transportation costs, and food purchases. The average rent in Spain has almost doubled over the past ten years, according to Idealista, with even greater increases in Madrid and Barcelona. Spain’s public housing stock is also lower than that of many other European Union nations.
Hope for the future
Whatever work-seeking demands she may be forced to do in the upcoming days and weeks, Teresa stated, hopes to soon find employment and leave the airport. She and her husband avoid others who are sleeping in the brightly lit hallway full of sleeping bags, saying they are battling mental health issues, addiction, and other issues. Over the constant whirring of airline announcements, Teresa said,” You end up adjusting to it a little, accepting it even, but never getting used to it.” ” I hope that it improves, because this is not life,” said the minister.
