Seville Airport — Local services in Seville

Possibly the worst airport in all of Spain. The staff here are by far the rudest Spaniards I’ve encountered in the entire country. And I say this as someone who loves Spain and its people, I live here for 8 years after all — but apparently, at Seville Airport, the main job requirement is: “Can you be rude to passengers? Can you roll your eyes, yell, and under no circumstances ever apologize? You’re hired!”

Our day was going perfectly fine until we stepped into this airport. At Ryanair check-in, there was one desk open — one — for around 200 people. Naturally, with a one-year-old in our arms, we went to the customer desk to politely ask if we could check in just our baby’s car seat without waiting hours in the same line as everyone with massive bags. We also asked if there was a priority line for families with kids, pregnant women, etc. (because, you know, in any developed airport, there usually is). The woman behind the desk didn’t just say no — she rolled her eyes dramatically and literally yelled: “It’s the same queue! The same queue!” as if we had personally ruined her life by asking.

Now, let’s be clear: we don’t expect special treatment, and we don’t expect everything in an airport to run perfectly. Things break, systems fail — that’s life. But when issues come up, the bare minimum you’d expect is that the staff don’t take it out on passengers with attitude and rudeness.

When we finally reached the desk, we were sent to drop the car seat at the oversized baggage belt. Of course, the machine was broken. And of course, there was nobody to fix it. Just one miserable-looking security guy who shrugged, said he had called someone, and then sat there doing nothing. We stood there with a screaming, exhausted baby for 30–40 minutes until, by some miracle, the belt started working again. Not a word of apology. Not even a basic “sorry for the wait.” Instead, the guard looked annoyed at us, as though our crying child was the problem — not their useless equipment and total lack of staff.

And it doesn’t stop there. Security control was a complete joke. They made us go through the X-ray three times — first without the baby, then with the baby, then again for no clear reason. Then, even though the machine flashed green every time, they suddenly demanded we remove our shoes. No consistency, no logic, no courtesy. Honestly, the whole system feels more like something you’d expect in a poorly run airport in an underdeveloped country — not Spain.

We’ve flown from Malaga, Tenerife, Jerez, Palma, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Gran Canaria — all of them were great. But Seville? Absolutely exhausting, unfriendly, and unprofessional. If you can, avoid this airport...

They were rude, unfriendly, incompetent and worst of all DISORGANISED.

Firstly, in the line to the security point, there were a total of about 8 people, yet they made people walk back and forth along an unnecessarily long trail to reach it. Anyone who decided to skip parts of it (without skipping the actual queue) were told by an ridiculous assitant to "please follow the path". Why is the path so long if there's nobody? Shorten it until it actually backs up, then lengthen it like intelligent assistants at good airports do. That's why the barrier is movable.

Then at the security checkpoint, they backed up a queue completely, told people to wait until it was ready, didn't allow people to out their bags on the conveyor even when there was space, then just made everyone move to a different conveyor in no order, creating confusion.

Finally, a bag got its strap stuck behind one of the barriers after the machine, blocking the new conveyor everyone was transferred to. Not a single assistant was paying attention and just left it there. Everyone was obviously frustrated at the incompetence at this point, and so someone asked one assistant if they could move it. The assistant replied to do it, however once it was done, another assitant said that they weren't allowed to do that (despite being given permission). The owner of the bag (who wasn't the person that moved the bag) was forced to place their bag through the machine again, and so was the next person (for no reason). All the time bring rude, even though it was all the security people's fault.

Everyone was just bad at their jobs. I hope to god to never be at this airport when it is actually busy, because considering there were so few people going through, it was an absolute farce....

I went through security at Seville Airport yesterday around 1 PM, and I am honestly shocked by the level of hostility shown toward us and other tourists. Not a single member of the security staff spoke English, which already made the process very stressful for many passengers.

When my cabin bag was pulled aside for an additional check, a blonde woman in charge started shouting at me in Spanish. I kept trying to explain in English that I didn’t understand her, but she just kept yelling. Eventually, another staff member came over — he didn’t speak English either and only kept repeating “liquid, liquid.” I told him there was no liquid in my bag, but he aggressively gestured for me to carry my open suitcase back to the beginning of the belt. I had to unpack everything myself, and of course, there was nothing there.

Another officer, who was helping people take electronics out of their bags, seemed to tell his colleague that there was no reason to re-scan my luggage since it was clear there were no liquids. At that point, the man who had been handling my bag turned to me and said in English: “Shut up and go.”

If that’s the only English phrase he knows, then congratulations to Seville Airport. The attitude wasn’t just directed at me — we saw the same behavior toward many other travelers around us. It was shocking and deeply disappointing, especially for a major European airport.

We travel a lot, and this was by far one of the most unpleasant airport experiences we’ve ever had. It’s sad that, even though we’re all part of the European Union, visitors in Seville are treated like outsiders. I will definitely not be visiting this city again — I’ll be spending my...