The Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport looks like a small metropolis within the capital: it has bars; restaurants (among them, the new one of Dabiz Muñoz); work areas; pharmacies and stores with duty-free fashion and beauty products.
Currently, 138,000 square meters of its surface area are devoted to leisure and gastronomy. This commercial advantage, added to the large number of passengers it welcomes each year, has secured Madrid-Barajas a position in the Airports Council International (ACI) ranking, which lists the 20 airports with the most traffic worldwide.
As if it were not attractive enough for travelers from all over the world, the Madrid airport holds a very interesting secret for aeronautical photography enthusiasts, or for those who simply enjoy watching airplanes take off. It is the viewpoint for spotters that arrived at Barajas in 2022 and very few people know about.
The viewpoint has 2,100 square meters with benches, artificial lighting and a security fence. It offers a panoramic view of Terminal 4 and the Control Tower, from where international and domestic aircraft, both passenger and cargo, can be seen. There are no food stands near the area, so it is important to bring snacks and drinks if you plan to spend the afternoon.
How to get there
Visiting the viewpoint is very easy if we have a car: we just have to get to the Iberia ring road, next to the security checkpoint of the Alamán school. There we will see five parking spaces and an accreditation booth where we must go to ask for our free spotters card. Once we have acquired the card, we can directly join the spotters and photographers enjoying the takeoffs.
The opening hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. during the summer (from June 15 to September 15) and from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. the rest of the year. Isn’t it the perfect plan for a Sunday morning?