Madrid-Barajas Airport: A Traveler's Guide to MAD
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Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas has four terminal buildings, and the split matters: T1, T2 and T3 form one connected cluster (used mostly by non-Star Alliance and some low-cost carriers), while T4 and its satellite T4S — a few kilometers away — handle Iberia, the rest of oneworld, and most Star Alliance and SkyTeam flights. A free shuttle bus connects T1-T3 with T4, but it can take 15-20 minutes each way including waiting, so if your itinerary has you landing in one cluster and departing from the other, don't cut a connection close — 2.5 hours minimum is a safer bet, more if you're also changing between Schengen and non-Schengen flights.
Immigration, customs and security
As with any Schengen airport, arriving from within the Schengen area skips passport control entirely. From outside Schengen, expect a passport check with e-gates available for eligible EU and some other passport holders. Security is generally efficient but can back up at T4 during the morning Iberia banks, so build normal buffer time and expect a longer queue if you're checking a bag at a counter rather than online.
Getting into the city
Metro Line 8 (pink line) connects T2 and T4 directly to Nuevo Ministerios in the city center in about 12-20 minutes, with a mandatory airport supplement of a few euros added to the standard metro fare — a normal single ticket plus supplement runs around €4.50-5. From T4, the Cercanías (commuter rail) line C1 is a good alternative straight to Atocha station, Madrid's main rail hub, in around 25 minutes. A taxi into the center runs on a fixed flat rate (posted at the taxi ranks, currently in the low €30s) rather than the meter, which makes budgeting easy, and takes about 20-30 minutes outside rush hour. Airport buses (Line 200 and the Airport Express) also run to central stops around the clock.
Practical tips
Spain uses the euro, and contactless payment is near-universal, but keep some cash for smaller cafés. If you're catching an early or late flight from T4S, note the internal shuttle train to T4 runs frequently but adds a few minutes — factor it in. And if your trip continues by high-speed AVE train, Atocha station (reachable via Cercanías from T4) is where you'll want to go, not the airport's own rail platforms, which serve regional Cercanías lines only.