Jeremy Clarkson refuses to holiday in Europe after ‘nuisance’ Madrid break

Jeremy Clarkson has insisted that he will not travel abroad for a summer holiday this year, claiming that he’d rather stay at home in the UK.

Clarkson, along with his girlfriend Lisa Hogan, flew to Madrid last weekend seeking some sun to escape the UK’s unseasonably cold and wet spring.

The Clarkson’s Farm star complained in his Sun column of lengthy check-in queues, uphill terminal walks and e-passport gates “only for people who live in the EU”.

“At Madrid airport, you leave the plane, which has parked at the very end of the furthest terminal from baggage reclaim.”

“So you walk, uphill, in a superheated tunnel for about an hour and then you’re in a terminal, which is bigger than most deserts.

“You walk. And then you walk some more. And then you walk until every old injury starts to flare up,” Clarkson wrote of his journey through an aviation hub in the Spanish capital.

In a post on Twitter/X, he said: “Let’s have a group chat. What’s the stupidest airport in the world? I’ll go first. Madrid.”

Clarkson blamed Brexit voters for the “snaking queues” full of “people who don’t speak Spanish. Or English, and have no paperwork” at the non-EU border control checkpoints.

He also expressed his frustration at “nuisance” fellow passengers who “don’t realise that they can’t travel with liquids” and can’t work the electronic passport machines.

Clarkson said: “I’ll be staying in the UK this summer and not going abroad.”

The TV personality urged travellers not to spend “half your holiday in a lift or a queue”, as he will be staying at home to enjoy a “beautiful summer” likely on his Chipping Norton farm.

Raymond Young from Edinburgh, who bagged a £500,000 Thunderball jackpot win, recently echoed the sentiment. The winner said he would choose a weekend trip at his “home from home” holiday spot in Blackpool over an exotic holiday when spending his cash prize.

However, travel companies are still reporting high demand for international holidays this summer with bookings up 7.1 per cent in April.

According to data from Barclays, holidays abroad are outshining staycations with 32 per cent of consumers saying they’re prioritising sun-seeking over closer-to-home getaways.