Several weeks ago, I covered how Iberia would be opening a new lounge at Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), which will be the carrier’s most exclusive lounge to date. It’s always nice to see airlines introducing new premium facilities, so kudos to Iberia! There’s now an exciting update, as the lounge is finally opening, and we have lots more details.
New Iberia Emerald Lounge Sorolla Madrid basics
Up until now, Iberia has had two primary lounges at its Madrid hub, broken up by Schengen and non-Schengen flights. Iberia’s lounge portfolio is solid, and both lounges are quite good in their respective sets, with many particularly liking the non-Schengen lounge.
These are both standard oneworld lounges in terms of access requirements, and are open to all oneworld business class passengers, as well as oneworld Sapphire members and above.
That brings us to the exciting update — as of Thursday, September 10, 2026, the new Iberia Emerald Lounge Sorolla is having its grand opening. The lounge has had a soft opening in recent weeks, whereby select travelers have been invited to use it, but it’s finally opening on a widespread basis.
The lounge is exclusively for oneworld Emerald members, which is the highest tier in the alliance. The lounge is located in the Schengen area, next to the existing Dali Lounge, so it’s intended primarily for regional flights, for passengers with flights from the Terminal 4 boarding areas H, J, K, and M. It’s open daily from 5:30AM until 11PM.
Below are a couple of videos about the lounge. I must say, it looks gorgeous. The lounge has proper cocktails prepared by bartenders, barista coffee, a menu off of which you can order food (in addition to a buffet), and even private rest areas. The lounge has the capacity to handle 128 guests, and covers 800 square meters (8,600 square feet).
This is a nice passenger experience investment
The general concept of oneworld Emerald lounge access is that these elite members get access to first class-style lounges.
The catch is that some oneworld first class lounges, like the British Airways Concorde Room and Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge, exclude oneworld Emerald members. In those cases there are typically alternative lounges available, but they’re not the same quality.
What I find especially nice is when oneworld airlines without first class lounges put in the effort to open a dedicated facility for oneworld Emerald members. The Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki is probably the best example of this, as it’s a truly lovely and very high quality lounge that I always enjoy visiting.
So it’s great to see Iberia now joining that “club,” and offering a premium lounge that doesn’t even reflect a class of service being offered.
I’d say the one quirk here is that this is for Schengen passengers, and not non-Schengen passengers. You’d think that if you were to just introduce one premium lounge, it would be for long haul travelers, where competition is generally fiercest. Then again, airlines open new facilities based on where they can find available real estate, so I suspect that’s the explanation here.
Bottom line
Iberia is formally opening its newest lounge at Madrid Airport, intended exclusively for oneworld Emerald members. The new Iberia Emerald Lounge Sorolla is located next to the existing Iberia Dali Lounge, and features a very nice design, plus a menu you can order off of, a bar with proper cocktails and barista coffee, bedrooms for sleeping, and more.
I’ve already booked a trip to pass through Madrid in early October, so I can’t wait to check this out!
What do you make of Iberia’s new lounge in Madrid?
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