How a group of homeless people found a place to live in Madrid airport

Posing as travelers who have been robbed or lost their documents, many of these “ghost travelers” have been living in Barajas’ terminals for years

Madrid 3 ABR 2019 - 03:42 ART

David, a homeless person posing as a traveler, at Madrid airport. LUIS SEVILLANO

The passengers of Emirates flight EK144 to Dubai wait in line to check in their designer suitcases. Ladies in expensive dresses and men in suits and ties wait in line, as though they were about to attend a cocktail party and not a six-hour overnight flight. The monotony of the routine is interrupted when a man with a briefcase begins to desperately search in his jacket pockets.

“I’ve lost my wallet, my documents,” he says, flustered, in English. Incredulous faces stare at him. Embarrassed, the man turns around, grabs his case and walks away, passing beneath the large ceiling dome of Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport’s T4 terminal. In the next hour, the man will circulate the terminal four times, stopping a number of travelers to tell them the same story of his missing documents. When he feels he is being watched, he’ll pretend to make a phone call.