Madrid-Barajas Airport

Madrid-Barajas Airport (Aeropuerto Madrid-Barajas) was opened in 1931. It got its name from the same-named 21st district of Madrid. Since 2014, the Madrid airport has been called Madrid-Barajas Airport named after Adolfo Suárez (Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas).

Read my full Madrid travel guide → here.

Terminals

In total, there are four terminals at Barajas: T1, T2, T3, and T4. Terminal 4 consists of two buildings — T4 and T4S.

A free shuttle bus runs between the terminals. It is painted in a light green color, and its electronic board displays the direction. The T4 building and the T4S satellite are connected by an automatically operated underground train that runs without a driver.

Services

The airport has security services, parking lots, and car rental counters. More than a hundred shops are open (including Duty Free). There are three dozen cafes, snack bars, and restaurants.

There are 22 information desks in the terminals, staffed by over a hundred employees. Each ticket has the terminal number printed on it, from which boarding takes place. The routes for passengers to reach a particular terminal are shown on monitors located inside the airport building and in the parking lot.

• In Terminal T1, there are luggage storage facilities, a lost luggage service, a medical center and pharmacies, post office and telegraph, and a Tax Free office.
• In Terminal T2, there are bank branches, a luggage storage facility, a children’s play area, a medical assistance center, and a tourist center.
• T3 is closed for check-in.
• In T4, there are bank branches, ATMs, currency exchange offices, a lost luggage service, a tourist center, children’s rooms, post office, telegraph, medical center, and pharmacies. In T4S, you’ll find Tax Free and first aid facilities.

Airport Architecture

Madrid Airport opened in 1931. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it was significantly renovated and expanded.

The airport renovation project was carried out by British architect Richard Rogers, with the participation of the Spanish architectural firm “Estudio Lamela.” The most unusual detail of Barajas Airport is its wave-shaped roof. Wide overhangs and additional steel structural elements of the roof protect the building’s walls from overheating in summer. Round openings in the ceilings provide natural lighting. The architect emphasized the original shape of the building. Barajas stands out effectively against the surrounding hills.

How to get from Madrid Airport to Madrid?

• To get to the center of Madrid from Barajas, you can take the metro (line 8 pink, direction Nuevos Ministerios – 12-15 min.). At the Mar de Cristal station, you need to transfer to line 4, which runs through the city center.
• The most convenient option is the yellow airport express bus Exprés Aeropuerto, which departs from T1, T2, T3, and T4 to Atocha (around 40 min. on average), making stops along the way at Plaza de Cibeles and O’Donell Street.
• You can also use city buses. Bus route No. 200 departs from T1, 2, 3, 4 to Avenida de América. Route No. 101 allows you to get from T1, 2, 3 to Canillejas.
• From Barajas Airport, you can take intercity buses to other cities in Spain.
• On the suburban train line (C1) RENFE from T4 to Príncipe Pío (38 min.), but you can also get off earlier at stops like Méndez Álvaro (bus station), Atocha (main train station), Nuevos Ministerios, and Chamartín (second train station).
• By taxi. Taxi stands are located near the arrival halls of terminals T1, T2, and T4.
• You can also leave Barajas by renting a car at the airport.

Read about how we booked a transfer from the airport and what happened in the end.