Passport Control in Madrid

When we went through Madrid a couple years ago, passport control didn't take any time at all. What slowed us up was having to go through security again, which was chaos. But we still made our connecting flight, to Warsaw. Don't know if you'll have to do this.

Thanks, Tom. What do you mean by chaos? I'm afraid to ask...

There were a large number of people of various nationalities trying to get through security to catch connecting flights, and that day the security guards seemed to be wanting a lot of them to open up their carry-ons, etc. There was some weeping and gnashing of teeth, but I think everyone made their plane.

When I was there in May, it was maybe a 15 minute process. It all depends on how many flights are coming at the same time.

Thanks, Nancy. Was the security line bad? I'm worried that I won't have enough time to make my connection (2hrs).

Sorry, I wasn't connecting, Madrid was my final stop.

Beware the Terminal 4 vs Terminal 4S issue. By any normal definition, these are separate terminals; each one is gigantic, you have to clear security when you go between them, and it's a HUGE distance going from the far end of one to the far end of the other (which is what I had to do in 2006, coming in from New York and going out to Seville, all on Iberia Airlines). However, I've seen these considered as one terminal, just because they carry the "same number." They are connected to each other, unlike terminals 1, 2, and 3, which require a bus to get to T4 or T4S. I made my connection in 90 minutes with no difficulty, but I wrote at the time that I wasn't sure if it was the easiest or hardest connection I had ever made. I felt like I had walked a marathon - the pathways were ENDLESS (even getting from the plane to passport control was a huge distance). And I didn't dare stop walking for a second, until I had reached my gate, since the distances were so long. At least the signage was copious, with frequent reminders of how many minutes it would take to reach various points. If you're using just 4 and 4S, you should be fine with 2 hours. If you're not (check with the airline and airport websites to be sure), I'd worry. I haven't been in the 1-2-3 terminals building since 1995, so I don't know how connections are within that terminal complex, or if you have to change from the 1-2-3 complex to the 4-4S complex.

Laura, Even if you were to check-in your luggage, you wouldn't have to re-check them in Madrid, they would be forwarded to Czech Republic directly!

You can check here to see what terminal your flight will come into (and what terminal the continuing flight will go out of). If you are staying on the same airline, it should be in the same terminal. Since most international flights come into T1 (which is relatively small), you should be fine. http://www.madrid-tourist-guide.com/en/airport/airport-madrid.html

Thanks, everyone. I'm arriving in Terminal 4 and my connecting flight is out of 4S.