On July 21, 2023, runway 32R at Madrid Barajas Airport had to be closed due to a protest by climate activists. The runway was occupied by activists at around 6 AM local time, causing air traffic to be redirected to runway 32L. The activists were from the group Futuro Vegetal and had infiltrated the airside perimeter of the airport. They adhered their hands to the asphalt of the runway to impede air traffic.
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Esta mañana, pasadas las 6, se ha tenido que cerrar la pista 32R de #Madrid Barajas porque ha sido ocupada por unos activistas. Hemos dirigido el tráfico aéreo de llegada a la pista 32L por ese motivo. Al parecer, la Guardia Civil se ha hecho ya cargo de la situación. pic.twitter.com/r1BXFSPwcG
— 😉Controladores Aéreos 🇪🇸 (@controladores) July 21, 2023
Local authorities were called in to remove the activists from the runway. The situation was handled by the Guardia Civil. Futuro Vegetal carried a banner with the slogan “The united people function without a party” and aimed to urge people to “organize to face the worst consequences of the Climate Crisis,” regardless of the outcome of upcoming elections. The group expressed concern for what they consider a lack of robust measures by political parties to address the climate crisis.
This is not the first time that climate activists have disrupted airport operations. In November 2022, a group of environmental activists from Letzte Generation (Last Generation) forced runways to shut down at Berlin Brandenburg Airport after breaking into the airfield and gluing themselves to the tarmac.
The incident at Madrid Barajas Airport serves as a reminder of the growing concern over climate change and the actions that individuals and groups are willing to take to bring attention to the issue.