Homeless crisis at Madrid Barajas forces airport operator to act

The spotlight falling locally this week on the homeless in Malaga Airport has been driven by a bigger social crisis at Spain's much larger Madrid Barajas airport, which politicians there have been arguing about for the last few weeks.

An estimated 300 to 500 rough sleepers at Madrid Airport, principally in the newer Terminal 4, have made headlines after increasing reports of harassment of passengers and airport workers and lack of hygiene in the buildings which are open to public access 24 hours a day. Many homeless have jobs and return to sleep each night.

The government has said it is down to Madrid city council to provide for the homeless. Airport operator Aena and the mayor were due to meet on Thursday. Meanwhile, to control the situation, Aena started monitoring night access from 9pm from Wednesday this week, with limited initial success reported.

The solution is not unique and requires coordination across all governing bodies. Article 25.2.e of Law 7/1985 concerning local government laws states that city councils are responsible for caring for people in vulnerable situations and must therefore provide services related to "care for people experiencing social exclusion".

In turn, Article 148.1.20-21 of the Spanish Constitution states that the regions are responsible for public policy regarding "social assistance" and "health and hygiene", and therefore for planning resources for integration, mental health and housing for vulnerable groups.

Finally, central government, via the police and services for public safety, is responsible for identifying people in such circumstances.

As such, it is only Aena as the state airport operator in Spain that truly lacks any legal powers. After all, Aena only manages airports as transit areas for people. The most Aena can do is control access and security within its facilities, but it cannot evict.