Hundreds Homeless Due to High Rental Prices
Airport Implements Boarding Pass Requirement for Visitors
Madrid International Airport, the largest airport in Spain, is now crowded with homeless people. Due to Spain's worsening housing crisis, these individuals have lost their homes and are using the airport as a temporary shelter.
On the 17th (local time), AP News reported on the situation in an article titled "Homelessness Crisis Emerges at Madrid Airport," highlighting cases of people sleeping at Madrid Airport. Among them, a woman identified as Teresa (pseudonym, 54) has been living in Terminal 4 of Madrid International Airport for the past six months. AP stated, "As Spain's housing crisis deepens, the number of homeless people sleeping at Madrid Airport has reached hundreds," and explained, "In Spain, rental prices have risen rapidly, especially in cities like Madrid and Barcelona."
People like Teresa spread out sleeping bags on the floor and live in corners of the airport with blankets, luggage carts, and bags. The Spanish media outlet El Mundo reported, "Now, homeless people can be seen on every floor and in every corner of the airport."
The majority of the homeless work day labor jobs during the day and, at night, sleep on the airport floor, often intoxicated. Some even urinate where they sleep, creating puddles of urine throughout the airport. Infestations of bedbugs and other insects have become common, leading airport staff to be bitten and prompting the authorities to call in pest control specialists for large-scale disinfection. Local media have also reported issues with drugs and prostitution within the homeless community at the airport.
As the number of homeless people has increased, Spanish airport operator AENA announced on the 14th that it would require visitors to present a boarding pass in order to restrict access to Madrid Airport. AENA stated that this policy would be implemented within a few days, but did not specify the exact start date or the specific time periods for the restrictions. However, airport staff and companions of travelers will be exempt from this policy.
According to the real estate website Idealista, the average rent in Spain has nearly doubled over the past ten years, with the increases in Madrid and Barcelona being even steeper. Spain is also known to have a lower stock of public housing compared to many other European Union (EU) countries.
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