within the Schengen Zone. As is the case with most lounges in Spain, it’s run by the airport operator AENA. Since we hadn’t been to this lounge before, and had an hour or two to spare, we were looking forward to seeing what it’d be like.

Plaza Mayor Madrid Lounge Access

Access to the Plaza Mayor Madrid lounge is possible through lounge membership schemes such as Priority Pass. Payment on the door is possible too. At a fee of €41 though, it’s not the best option if you’re wanting value for money.   The queue to enter was long. A passenger in front was attempting to gain access with their Priority Pass card, but their flight wasn’t leaving for 5 hours. They were quite curtly told that entrance would not be possible until at least 3 hours before – even if they were to double swipe their card. The lounge is well sign posted after you’ve passed through security. It’s located down a small corridor, close to McDonald’s.

Plaza Mayor Madrid Lounge Space & Interior

For some reason, I was expecting this lounge to be much bigger. I was genuinely surprised by just how small it is, especially considering the number of flights departing from Madrid Terminal 4. While the lounge is light and open, it was very overcrowded during our visit (mid afternoon in August). So much so, we couldn’t find any seats together. This is in contrast to the Pau Casals lounge in Barcelona Terminal 1, which is also designed for Schengen passengers but has a much larger capacity. 

This is a shame, because I actually really liked the design of the lounge.  It has windows expanding across the length of two walls, and while you’re on the wrong side of the airport for views out to the runway, you can still do some planespotting. In fact, from this perspective, it’s a nicer option than Iberia’s lounge in Terminal 4.

The problem is that the lounge is only around half the size of Iberia’s. While the seating is comfortable, and there are plenty of power plugs if you need to work, capacity is clearly a problem.

Food and Drinks at the Plaza Mayor Madrid Lounge

The selection of food and drinks available was good. In fact, considering this lounge accepts Priority Pass, the choices were excellent. Some other lounges, such as the Erste Lounge in Prague could learn a thing or two.

Instead of presenting food in large self-service trays, meals are instead plated individually. There were plenty of different options, including a cod dish, a beef option, and pasta. You’ll also be able to find a range of different breads and snacks.

In addition, there are fridges with a number of different sandwich and yoghurt options. I found all of the food I tried to be of a really good quality, and much better than I’d typically expect from an airport lounge.

The drinks selection was also fairly decent. There were a number of different spirits available (at the lower-middle range), as well as beers and wines. Everything is self service, which I tend to prefer.

Additionally, there was a good selection of soft drinks, including high quality juices. All of these are bottled individually, which again, I much prefer.

Conclusions

Perhaps we were unlucky because of the time we were visiting, but the overall experience was somewhat dampened by the overcrowded feeling in the lounge. It felt like the lounge needed to be at least double the size to cope with the levels of demand. Looking past this, however, the interior is good. There’s lots of natural light, comfortable seating, and the food and drinks options are well above average for an airport lounge. If you’re able to visit during a quiet period, I’d recommend it. If not, it’s probably better finding somewhere to sit in the terminal, or heading over to the Iberia lounge if you have access.