A huge row over a reported bedbug infestation at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport has erupted between a police union and the company managing Spanish air hubs. Previous reports alleged bedbugs had arrived in Terminal 4 at the Madrid airport. New reports claim the infestation has now spread to Terminal 1, reaching the men’s changing rooms of the National Police. 

The Jupol union, representing the majority in the Spanish National Police, has raised the alarm to local news outlet OKDIARIO, denouncing the “unacceptable health situation” it claims the officers are suffering and with “the danger of carrying them in their clothes and also taking the plague to their homes”. According to Jupol, national police officers have been alerting the airport to this problem for several weeks, after detecting bedbugs in “the benches, lockers, walls and ceilings of the changing rooms”, where they change clothes and rest during their shifts. However, the union claims that the complaints “have been ignored by airport officials, who have chosen to look the other way instead of acting urgently and effectively”. 

In response to the situation, Jupol said to have reported the problem to the service chiefs of the National Police at the airport, who, after checking the situation, have requested urgent fumigation from AENA, the entity responsible for maintaining these facilities. 

However, Jupol claims that AENA had not yet responded to this request as of late Tuesday, which, for this union, demonstrates “worrying neglect in a situation of evident health risk”. 

“Our colleagues are being literally attacked by bedbugs, suffering painful bites, allergies and an obvious risk of carrying these parasites to their homes. This situation is shameful, unhealthy and totally inappropriate for a police facility at the country’s main airport”, claimed the union.

On Wednesday, AENA denied having received any notification from the National Police regarding the alleged presence of bedbugs and insects in the airport. In a statement received by Europa Press, AENA added that “the maintenance, conservation, and cleaning of the changing rooms used by the police within the airport premises are the responsibility of the police force itself, not AENA,” but said that, if necessary, it would intervene immediately in common areas.

Regarding complaints of bites made by some workers in May at Terminal 4, AENA recalled that reports issued by the airport’s contracted pest control company “did not at any time determine the existence of an infestation“.

“The cleaning and sanitisation tasks of the facilities are constant, and whenever requests are made by workers or passengers regarding any aspect related to cleanliness, they are reviewed and necessary tasks are carried out,” explained the authority.

Jupol has also demanded an “immediate and forceful” action, which includes “urgent and professional fumigation of the affected facilities, review and comprehensive cleaning of all furniture and lockers, temporary relocation of changing rooms until a safe and pest-free environment is guaranteed, and the purging of responsibilities for the inaction maintained in the face of a known and reported problem”.

“National Police officers must not only carry out their work in conditions of operational safety, but also in a dignified and healthy environment, something that is not being fulfilled in Barajas,” Jupol continued. “We are not going to allow the health of our colleagues to be put at risk due to negligence.”