It is said that true cities never sleep. Madrid-Barajas airport keeps its insomniac eyes wide open 24 hours a day, like an independent major city that beats in Madrid's outskirts. Inside it houses little towns, emulating a tireless and varied russian doll, riddled with legends and stories.
An employee checks a baggage that has been left behind in the baggage carousel. Iberia manages all the lost and fogotten baggage in the T4 terminal
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Mari Mar Peláez (centre) is a 'Green Jackets' Coordinator, whose job is to provide general information about the airport.
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Businessmen eating in a fast-food restaurant at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Exit gates in Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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A corner of Iberia's Velázquez VIP Lounge, in Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas airport. The Velázquez VIP Lounge measures 2 150 square metres.
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An employee wraps a suitcase up with plastic film at the baggage protection service in Terminal 1 of Madrid-Barajas Airport.
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Juan Ramón Morenate repairs the moving walkway in Terminal 2 at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Mª Carmen Gómez (left) has been a cleaner at Madrid-Barajas airport for the last 10 years, and Aurelia Jurado for16 years. Each cleaner in Terminal 4 has an area from 1 000 to 1 500 square metres per day to clean. Mari Carmen was awarded a medal for Civil Merit for her cooperation with police when she discovered, on various occasions, packs of drugs hidden in areas she was cleaning.
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Letters and postcards that have arrived at this centre in Madrid-Barajas airport are put into sacks for exportation and national distribution.
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Iberia's Red Jackets help an elderly who needs a wheel chair to access the plane in the T4 Terminal at Madrid-Barajas airport. The Red Jackets are in charge of solving any incidence or problem that afflicts the passenger
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Metro station inside Terminal 4, in Madrid-Barajas airport. Inaugurated on February 2006, Terminal 4 is the newest one at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Passengers queuing to check-in in the T1 Terminal
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In a Zara store inside the Madrid-Barajas airport. The only difference compared with other Zara stores is that clients shop with their trolleys or suitcases.
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Mario Ibáñez, chef of the El Madroño restaurant, located in Terminal 4, in Madrid-Barajas airport.
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César González, fireman of the Platform Fire Station in Madrid-Barajas airport
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From the North Control Tower in Barajas airport, a take-off/landing strip and, in the background, Real Madrid's Sports City.
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Escalators and carts in Terminal 4 at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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A Guardia Civil officer, with Aro, one of the sniffer dogs. They mostly use dogs for what they call "hot flights": flights originating mainly from Colombia, Venezuela and other areas where drug trafficking is common.
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The Arrivals and Baggage claim areas in T4. Inaugurated in February 2006, Terminal 4 is the newest terminal in Madrid-Barajas airport.
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In the T1 customs, a Guardia Civil officer checks a bottle of wine carried by a tourist. The bottle is suspected of having drugs hidden inside it.
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A doctor from the Customs department of the Guardia Civil shows an X-Ray of a woman who tried to enter the country with "balls" of cocaine in her body, in Terminal 1 customs of the Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Some passengers check their flights on the big screens in Terminal 4, at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Feld Carlos I (name invented by himself) is an Indian homeless who lives in the first floor of the T1 terminal of Madrid-Barajas airport. He says he's the Imperial Majesty Emperor King Eternal Life and that he closed the airport on the 1st of May 2005 and turned it into a Popular Imperial and Royal Palace. There are some other homeless living in the same terminal since some time ago
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Passengers in the People Mover, the driver-less train that connects Terminal 4 and the T4-S (Satellite) at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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The Arrivals and Baggage claim area in T4. Inaugurated in February 2006, Terminal 4 is the newest terminal in Madrid-Barajas airport.
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Passengers heading to check-in areas in the T2 Terminal
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Daphne (19 months) as she plays with her mother Giuditta in the kindergarden of the T4 Terminal at Madrid-Barajas airport. The baby's father is from Nicaragua and Giuditta is Italian. This is Daphne's third travel by plane
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The area of Arrivals and Baggage claim in the T4. Inaugurated in February 2006, the T4 Terminal is the newest one in Madrid-Barajas airport.
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A passenger gets on the free bus that connects terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4. Inaugurated in February 2006, Terminal 4 is the newest terminal at Madrid-Barajas airport.
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