Aeropuerto de Barcelona - El Prat Avis 

Yesterday (1.6. 2026 - 12:30) on flight W67022 from Barcelona to Bratislava, we had an extremely unpleasant experience with a female employee at the gate. She singled us out and insisted on measuring our luggage, while other passengers with similar baggage were allowed to pass without any checks. During this unnecessary procedure, the zipper on my backpack broke and my luggage started falling apart. Despite clearly seeing the situation, she showed absolutely no empathy, offered no assistance, and made no attempt to address the damage. Instead, she continued to pressure and rush us, repeatedly stating that the aircraft was waiting for us, even though the delay had been caused entirely by her own actions. Her attitude was arrogant, rude, and highly unprofessional. We felt unfairly targeted and treated with a complete lack of respect. This level of customer service is unacceptable and left a very negative impression. Apart from this incident, the airport itself is beautiful.

I am writing this review to express my deep frustration regarding the passport control management at Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN). After landing on AV18(10 hours flight) today, May 24, 2026, I was forced to stand in a chaotic, poorly organized queue for over 3 hours just to pass the passport checks. Hundreds of exhausted passengers were left stranded without any information or assistance.
Waiting for more than 3 hours after a 10 hours flight is completely unacceptable for a major European hub in 2026. The airport management (Aena) and border control need to drastically improve their infrastructure and staffing to handle the processing times. This experience completely ruined the impression of the city. Absolutely terrible service.

Con el nuevo método de hacer el check-in en las máquinas es un auténtico desastre. Como dan error muy a menudo, hay que irse a la inmensa cola para que te atienda una persona. En esta cola hay pasajeros de distintos vuelos y por supuesto a distintas horas así que como no vayas con dos horas de adelanto (en vuelo nacional) corres el riesgo de que cuando llegues no te permitan hacer el check in. Los baños otro desastre. Colas en el de mujeres y vacíos los de hombres. Desigualdad hasta en nuestras necesidades fisiológicas básicas.

Mas de una hora esperando las maletas. Han empezado a salir mas tarde de lo señalado, pero la cinta de ha llenado y no podían salir las demas maletas. Se supone que los dueños de las que estaban en la cinta, estaban pasando el control de pasaporte. Los otros pasajeros (EU) apartando las maletas para que pudieran salir las suyas. Y saben que pasa siempre. Una vergüenza

Un aeropuerto mucho más pequeño como el de Luxor o el de Aswan está mucho mejor que esta porquería de aeropuerto. En este aeropuerto la señalización deja mucho que desear, es mala. con indicaciones contradictorias cuando no inexistentes. No sabes donde tomar los distintos autobuses que llevan a los parkings del aeropuerto, no está señalizado. Para más inri, los empleados del aeropuerto no tienen ni idea de lo que les estás preguntando y te mandan arriba, abajo, a la derecha , al fondo, a la izquierda y te hinchas a dar vueltas.
Por favor, que algún director les de lecciones de como tratar a la gente y de hacerles saber donde trabajan y que tienen alrededor, deben conocer las ubicaciones de todos los servicios del aeropuerto y si no que se vayan a trabajar a otro sitio. Pésimo.

Arrival & Terminal Access
Arriving by taxi was easy. Unlike some major hubs where the drop-off can be a labyrinth, Terminal 2 was straightforward to access. The terminal itself felt manageable and efficient right from the start.

Security & Efficiency
Security was surprisingly impressive. We breezed through the checks in under 10 minutes, which is a rare win for a major international airport. It’s clear that the front-end logistics are well-handled.

Retail & Dining
There is no shortage of options here. If you’re looking to browse some duty-free or grab a bite before your flight, the retail and restaurant selection is extensive and caters to most tastes.

Lounge Experience: Sala VIP Canudas
We opted for the lounge, which is on the smaller side but offered a dedicated quiet area. It served its purpose well for rest—I managed to get a solid 2-hour nap. However, the food was a major disappointment. "Inedible" is the only word for it; I ended up sticking to a yogurt and some sparkling water. If you’re visiting, come for the peace and quiet, not the buffet.

The EES Nightmare: A System in Need of an Overhaul
The biggest frustration by far was the Entry/Exit System (EES). As frequent flyers to Spain (covering Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, and Tenerife), we’ve seen our fair share of airport tech, but this system is absolutely useless.

The machines failed to read our EU passports repeatedly. We were shuffled between three different kiosks before giving up and heading to a passport control officer. For a system meant to streamline travel, it feels like a massive step backward. It needs a total reengineering to handle frequent travelers without these constant technical failures.

The Verdict
Accessibility (Taxi) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Security Speed⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lounge Comfort ⭐⭐
Lounge Food⭐
Border Control (EES)⭐

Overall: I still like Barcelona Airport for its layout and speed, but the current biometric border system is a "shambles" that ruins an otherwise smooth journey.

Por no poner un cero. La limpieza en la T1 brilla por su ausencia, no se ve a nadie repasando las sillas o los pasillos. Que tarden más de media hora en entregar el equipaje de un vuelo de 130 y pico pasajeros, no es propio de un aeropuerto moderno. TAP 1030 dia 27 abril 2026. Que el bus azul que te lleva a Barcelona, ya no cumple nunca los 5 minutos entre buses. Todo esto deben ponerse las pilas.

Missed our flight due to poor management of this airport, cost me £880 for an alternative flight. My family were there over 2hours in advance and they just were not equipped to process the number of passengers. I complained and they said it was the Spanish police who manage passport control and the passport scanners that were all broke making the queues miles long. Complaint took 4 months to respond to and the response may as well have been scibbled in crayon as it looked like a 5 year old had written it, SHAMBLES of an airport.

Awful experience. Travelling with parents and an infant we arrived at the airport in plenty of time (2.5+ hrs) Bag drop off involved waiting in a 45minute queue. Security was quick but disorganised and staff were rude. Passport control took so long that we had to run and almost missed the flight. We only made it because the Ryanair staff kindly held the flight a few extra minutes. Many others were not so fortunate. Management sort out your airport, we love Catalunya but this makes travelling unpleasant!

The staff were quite rude and officious, felt like an animal being herded. As a Brit I didn’t feel very welcome 😢

One of the worst airports in Europe. Very disorganized. Long queues. Very rude and racist staff.

Spain is lost.

Terrible experience ! Had to queue for about 2 hours to get passport checked at departure and I was going to Dublin (Ireland). Almost missed my flight and everyone in the queue were losing their minds. What do we pay airport tax for ? I have been all over the world and have never seen worst service !

This is the second weekend in a row that we have been stuck waiting for ages at this airport. There are massive delays in baggage handling and long queues for passport control. Avoid it if you can.

Tercermundista!
Personal sin ninguna educacion, sucio, mal indicado, .... Lo peor

Sobre Greenaway una tienda del aeropuerto, el día 3 de diciembre del 2025, mi hija de 10 años se extravío dentro del aeropuerto, cerca de esta tienda Greenaway y entró para pedir ayuda, le contó a la dependienta que se había perdido y que necesitaba hacer una llamada a su madre, y la dependienta se lo negó y se despreocupo totalmente de la niña, yo la encontré fuera del establecimiento llorando, sin saber que hacer, pero, sin moverse del sitio, como yo la enseñé, hago este año escrito para que quede constancia de la poca profesionalidad de esa persona y falta de humanidad, cuando una persona trabajadora dentro de un aeropuerto ve a una niña que la pide ayuda, está sola y está llorando, lo mínimo es llamar a las autoridades o pedir que se llame por megafonía, no dejarla a su suerte. La responsabilidad es mía, de su madre pero, siempre existe la posibilidad de un minuto de distracción, pero, como sociedad debemos proteger a los niños y niñas que pueden estar en peligro....

Avoid this airport in your stops, unclean , good it's expensive and reformed from previous days. All tables and restaurants even restroom keep dirty. Highly not recommend to stop on this airport

Resulta algo desalentador comprobar, al viajar, cómo aeropuertos de prácticamente todo el mundo avanzan cada vez más en organización y en ofrecer una experiencia agradable al pasajero, mientras que el Aeropuerto de Barcelona parece ir en la dirección contraria.

De por sí, el aeropuerto suele ser bastante caótico y, en la situación actual, con la mayoría de accesos y puertas cerrados, se generan nuevas y evitables aglomeraciones. Entiendo que estas medidas puedan responder a cuestiones de seguridad o prevención de robos; sin embargo, estas problemáticas no deberían trasladarse al cliente.
Un aeropuerto de referencia debería adoptar una mentalidad más orientada al pasajero y buscar soluciones alternativas que no perjudiquen la experiencia de quienes pagan para utilizar sus servicios.

Unfortunately, my experience at Barcelona Airport was extremely unprofessional. At the currency exchange office, they initially tried to charge a 20% commission for the conversion. When we clearly said that this was unacceptable, instead of respecting that, the staff started bargaining with us like at a street market. At the end, they even told us to say how much we were willing to pay. This made me seriously wonder: is this an airport or a marketplace?
As if that wasn’t enough, in a shop selling phone cases, the girl at the counter casually charged me a different price than the one displayed, claiming that the real prices are the ones she has. This is completely unacceptable and misleading for customers.
An international airport should represent professionalism, transparency, and trust. Sadly, this was not the case here.

Go to the airport website and submit your complaint directly, in English. I did that.
Update: I submitted my polite complaint to the security company contracted for Barcelona airport. The irate woman was wearing a different insegnia. So I had a letter of apology stating the person in question is contracted directly with the airport.
Arrival was brilliant very well organised. Everything went smoothly.
It is a good job we arrived at the airport early for departureand not just 2 hours as instructed. Only 3 desks were open for easyjet bag drop. All the self drop machines were not operating. Eventually a fourth desk was open. Then we went through security, staff were helpful. In terminal 2C liquid ristrictions continue. Then there was a really long and slow queue for passport control only 2 desks were open for all non EU passports. People on earlier flights than us to the UK were worried they are going to miss their flights. Suddenly an irate woman arrived started shouting at the top of her voice. Shouting at her colleagues and at passangers. She instructed us to leave the queue and use the automatic departure machines so at least 22 of us left the queue only to discover that UK passport holders cannot use these machines only EU passports holders. So the same irate lady started to shout at us again for following her instructions!! All her colleagues were calm! She was stressed. We had to rejoin the queue for passport control after losing our turn. Eventually a third passport control desk was opened. The lady manager came, created cahos did not apologise and just left! Very unprofessional!!
We then went to the gates area in terminal 2c gates M1 to M8. There is a water fountain, so bring empty bottle with you. However, the cheapest smallest sandwich is 8 euros!! There are sandwiches in the vending machine, but the quality of the bread is quite poor! So bring in your food from the centre! Rip off airports are back!

Mi hermana y mi padre después de 13 años sin vernos han venido à pasar navidad por primera vez aquí a Barcelona, y al llegar las maletas estaban retrasadas, después d'un largo tiempo de espera le entregan una sola maleta, la cual deterioraron al forzarla en la parte del sistema de código de bloqueo, se les robaron los perfumes que nos traían de regaló, dos crucifijos, paquetes de galletas y parte d'un fruto típico de mi país y dejando en el interior de la maleta un papel diciendo que la maleta fue abierta por motivo de control de objetos peligrosos. Lo que se han robado no representa ningún peligro. Denuncio este acto porque me parece una falta de respeto hacia los pasajeros y es inadmisible que un aeropuerto emplee personas deshonrados (ladrones) en sus servicios. yo estoy acostumbrada a viajar y es la aduana que abre las maletas y lo hace delante del propietario.
Sean vigilantes con su equipaje!!
Lastimosamente mi hermana nos lo informo cuando ya habíamos llegado a casa. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬