New IB oneworld emerald lounge due to open in MAD

[chitown_boy]

Thought i’d shared some news i’ve been following over at FT. For those for have passed through MAD T4 in the past year you would’ve noticed the renos. A new OWE IB lounge is due to be open in T4 next to the Dalí lounge, which will be great as the food options are pretty sad over there. Apparently in addition to better food and drinks they’ll be a jamón slicing station

Sadly i’ll miss the opening as the opening has been pushed back to June ‘26 and my planned flight for this lounge is May

The floor plan is quite small for ~150 and for Schengen flights (there are reports you can try your luck here before a non-Schengen flight over at T4S), but may be risky with the new EES system, it’s somewhat of a schlep over and the Valásquez lounge there is passable (shame the dining room doesn’t open earlier for the north america day flights, it only opens apparently for the evening south america flights)

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/iberia-iberia-club/2206511-madrid-barajas-t4-new-emerald-lounge-2026-a-3.html

 

[SYD]

Sounds likes it’s only Domestic / Schengen zone flights.

Something over at T4S for non-Schengen would be well over due. The lounges there are better but still nothing for OWE…

We’re flying out in September. Maybe something then!

 

[chitown_boy]

Sounds likes it’s only Domestic / Schengen zone flights.

Something over at T4S for non-Schengen would be well over due. The lounges there are better but still nothing for OWE…

We’re flying out in September. Maybe something then!

Yeh it was difficult to actually book a flight from Madrid to try out the lounge, I normally prefer a Renfe/Iryo/Ouigo train for domestic and/or SNCF from BCN to France and beyond.. ..But you can’t train it to Gran Canaria!

It’s better than a poke in the eye though - slightly off topic but MAD is still better than BCN….ooof BCN lounges are probably the worst lounges i’ve been to at any major non-LCC European airport. I’ve rerouted my EK flights back from BCN to avoid the ME via LHR in JUL and AUG so I can get a CX F lounge pallate cleanse before QF2 back home

 

[SYD]

Yeh it was difficult to actually book a flight from Madrid to try out the lounge, I normally prefer a Renfe/Iryo/Ouigo train for domestic and/or SNCF from BCN to France and beyond.. ..But you can’t train it to Gran Canaria!

It’s better than a poke in the eye though - slightly off topic but MAD is still better than BCN….ooof BCN lounges are probably the worst lounges i’ve been to at any major non-LCC European airport. I’ve rerouted my EK flights back from BCN to avoid the ME via LHR in JUL and AUG so I can get a CX F lounge pallate cleanse before QF2 back home

Actually, we flew out of BCN on QR J Jan 2025 and the lounge was quite ok.

Yes, it’s bizarre they don’t have some dedicated alliance lounges (and it’s been like that for several decades) but some airports are like that…

 

[RooFlyer]

Yeh it was difficult to actually book a flight from Madrid to try out the lounge, I normally prefer a Renfe/Iryo/Ouigo train for domestic and/or SNCF from BCN to France and beyond.. ..But you can’t train it to Gran Canaria!

I took Iberia Express to Las Palmas a few days ago - the IB lounge MAD T4 was 'OK....' (see current trip report).