A Spanish airport descended into chaos today as hundreds of passengers waited in hour-long queues amid staff shortages at passport control, as fights broke out among frustrated travellers.
Footage taken from inside Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport show huge crowds waiting in line with passports in hand as they wait to get through to their boarding gates.
Long waits and overcrowding at passport control checkpoints at Madrid airport’s Terminal 4 have led to a tense atmosphere as passengers feared they might miss their flights.
In some instances, the Civil Guard reportedly had to intervene to contain the tension among some passengers.
Sources told local media that ‘half of the passport control posts were empty, resulting in an average wait of 60 minutes to get through security’ this morning.
Early reports had suggested that the blockage may have been caused by a collapse in passport scanning systems, but airport operator Aena denied this and said that the disruption had been caused by a lack of police personnel.
‘At Aena, we are collaborating with the Police to control the flow of people and prevent it from becoming a situation of congestion,’ the operator said in a statement to Spanish news outlet 20Minutos.
has approached Aena for comment.
Large blockages have also reportedly been formed on the platforms of the airport’s underground shuttle system.
Frustrated passengers have take to social media to complain about the delays at the airport, with one X user writing: ‘Arrived at the Madrid airport 4 hours before our flight and made it with a little bit of time to have a croissant and coffee. We board our flight and are now stuck waiting on 70 other passengers who are still passing through security.’
‘I have been working in aviation for more than 20 years and I have never seen something like this’, another wrote.
A third said: ‘This is embarrassing.’
Others blamed Spain’s socialist Transport Minister Oscar Puente for his lack of foresight at the start of the summer season.
The severe delays at the capital’s airport come just two days after Madrid and Seville suffered severe disruptions to their high-speed rail services.