Hi. My family and I are flying from Los Angeles to Madrid on Iberia in June. We are arrive at 2:20pm in Madrid and need to make a connecting flight to Mallorca. There is a 3:45pm Iberia Express flight that we would love to take but I'm worried that we won't make that tight of connection. I was going to make everyone take carry-on bags to make it easier. How long should customs take? The next flight is 6:45pm which is a bummer. Considering Ryan Air at 4:25pm but looking at the terminal map, it looks like their location is a long haul. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Looks like your first post; welcome to Fodor's!

At the Madrid airport you'll go through immigration; you'll claim bags and go through customs (a non-event) in Mallorca, not Madrid.

You'll be arriving at the Terminal 4 satellite (T4S) where you'll go through passport control, then you'll (probably) need to take the automatic train to the main Terminal 4 where your Mallorca flight will depart. Iberia says its minimum connection time for T4S > T4 is 55 minutes, so on paper you should be fine. However, T4 is enormous, so I wouldn't waste any time finding where your Mallorca flight departs, and get there pronto. One minor but significant point is that I'd use the elevators to get down to the train (and back up at T4) rather than the escalators, which can be frustratingly slow. But be sure that your Mallorca flight isn't one of the (few) domestic flights leaving from T4S before you head for the train.

Assuming both flights are on the same ticket, Iberia will "protect" you and if you miss the early flight they'll put you on the later one. If they're on separate tickets, don't risk this connection.

Customs doesn't take any time -- you just walk through the Green channel. Immigration on the other hand could take quite a long time.

1 hr 25 mins could work - but your problem is the second flight is a separate ticket so if you are even 1 minute late when the flight is closed, you are SOL and you lose everything. How do you feel about having to buy new tickets on a later flight at the higher walk up fares. IF you land on time, IF your plane gets a gate right away, IF the queues in Immigration are short . . . you'd make the 2nd flight. How lucky do you feel???

was posting the same time as Gardyloo . . . I assumed you were talking about separate tickets because you know what time you land and would "love to take" the second flight. That makes me think you haven't booked flight #2 yet.

But if they ARE on the same booking -- then sure - you'd be protected.

Separate tickets are so common, you can’t always combine all airlines esp low cost airlines on transatlantic tickets or any other type of ticket or if you can combine, the fare might become so ludicrously expensive that’s it’s not worth buying all on one ticket.

Iberia Express & Ryanair have more than one fare level, I would book a fare level which gives flexibility for rebooking (with fee & fare differential) in case your flight into Madrid is late & you miss your connecting flight to Palma. That’s what I do and fortunately I’ve only missed one connection in all the years of travelling on separate tickets, I paid an additional fee for rebooking onto a later flight.

Ryanair has 2/3 flights after the flight @ 4.25pm. You have time to get to the remote corner of the airport from which Ryanair operate. Make sure you have data on your iPhone as flight changes might need to be made online or via a call centre, there rarely is anyone to walk-up to to make changes to tickets.

The problem you'll have with Ryanair is that non EU citizens need to having boarding passes stamped before clearing security. That means you'll need to leave the secure area. Go outside. FInd the Ryanair help desk. Show your passport and boarding pass (PRINTED! Since they can't stamp your phone) then clear security and find your gate. They also board 30 minutes before departure.

All that means IF your plane arrives on time you've got about 90 minutes to do everything. In theory enough but it's a big airport that you clearly aren't accustomed to.

Assuming you have a smartphone I'd download the Spanish airport app. It'll give you easier access to airport wifi. Gate notifications . Flight status.

Thank you so much for the info. We ended up booking the later 6:45pm flight to be on the safe side.

Thank you! Definitely not feeling lucky. Booked the 6:45pm flight. Maybe we can catch the earlier flight if space is available. One can dream

Best idea. You don't want to be the woman on the train yesterday who somehow managed to arrange things so she arrived at the airport the same time boarding closed.

Smart move, I just remember walking forever to get out of that airport.

Why is the amount of time needed to get out of the airport relevant? The1840 flight is Iberia Express, will the OP need to go landside to get docs checked?

The OP will need to go through immigration in Madrid and change terminals (well, from T4s to T4, which are connected without going landside, I am pretty sure, but are not that close together).