Just Arrived in Madrid, What Do I Do With My Luggage?

Here’s a good tip. When you finally get to Spain after a long flight, the thing you might want to do first is walk around and get some fresh air, take in a few sites and get a full restaurant meal.

The last thing you want to do is take a taxi across town and check into a hotel and finally get to your hotel room an hour later. There’s a solution.

Julie Espinosa via NotesFromMadrid.com provides a tip that most people do not know about. Julie recommends that you drop-off you luggage at a luggage drop-off center. Julie explains:

• “Consider using a coin-operated left-luggage locker or consigna at any transportation hub. At the Madrid Barajas airport there is one in each terminal, the cleanest and most accessible being the one in the new T4 terminal.”

She recommends avoinding the South Bus Station (Estación sur de autobuses) storage area as it is not lockers. Instead, the luggage is behind a counter, each parcel store on top of each other.

She says that most consignas are lockers with keys. Julie goes on to explain:

• “You are charged for each 24-hour-period, depending on the locker size. For security purposes, many have X-ray machines and a guard on duty. To my knowledge only the airport consignas are open 24 hours; others close overnight.”

Great tips. This is much more convenient than the luggage storage at the Los Angelas, California, USA airport where I remember that there was no lockers at all due to security. Instead, there was a service that stored luggage in a luggage van that drove around the airport. You’d call the service by phone. They’d come and pick up your luggage 10 or 20 minutes later. Then, you could go do your touring and come back later only to have to wait another 20 minutes for the truck to return.