A Night At Barcelona Airport

Written on March 27, 2008 by Tezza

My introduction to Spain was hardly what I had imagined. After a grueling 11 and a half hour flight from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and then a three hour transfer before getting on a one hour flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona I ended up arriving at 11pm. This wasn´t surprising since I was well aware of the arrival time when I got my ticket. However, I had originally thought that I could just make my way to the train or bus station and onwards to the start of my Camino de Santiago.

Little did I know that everything would be shut tighter than Fort Knox and that the Spanish embrace the concept of Siesta with gusto. So with no accommodation booked and being well past midnight I decided to sit it out at the airport until around 5am when things got going again.

Fortunately or unfortunately while researching my travels back home I had come across a sight called Sleeping In Airports that is full of reviews and information about as you guessed it, “sleeping in airports”. So the helpful sight at least gave me a taste of what to expect. I wasn´t expecting to ever have to put the information to practical use.

The only people still milling around in the Arrival gates were cleaners finishing off their shifts, an occasional security guard and homeless people who´ve already made themselves comfortable for the night. Not exactly the most welcoming off places to rest your sleepy head and the seats were all metal with fixed armrests.

After sitting silently at the arrival gates I finally decided that I wasn´t going to get any sleep if I stayed here unless I wanted my bag to get mysteriously lighter over night. So I went for a wander and stumbled on the Departure gates with small groups of travelers stranded for the night and waiting it out for a morning flight out of Barcelona airport. Figuring there must be some rule about safety in numbers I decided to make myself at home and managed to get some hours of fitful sleep. Trips to the toilet make for an interesting adventure when you are traveling solo.

Luckily I was never bothered by security guards or the police and it turned out just fine. At around 5am I got up and jumped on the first shuttle bus to the Airport Train Station. Well life is full of wonderful adventures and that is one I´m not looking to repeat anytime soon. Hopefully the Camino goes much more smoothly.

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Posted in Spain, Travel and Recreation