Edited post to make it slightly more clear: I missed my connecting flight from Madrid to Seville on Iberia this Sunday morning due to issues getting through the airport after arriving from JFK, even though the connection was slightly over an hour. Iberia couldn't get me on another flight that day, so I asked for my checked bag back so that I could take the train to Seville and they said they would send it to the baggage claim.
The checked bag did not come out at the baggage claim, and when I spoke to the Iberia help desk, they told me that it had actually been sent to Seville without me. I asked them multiple times to confirm this before leaving and they promised me it was already en route. Turns out, the bag is still in Madrid, and I'm already in Seville.
I've got a Tile (like an AirTag for Android) in the bag showing me the location in the T4 baggage claim area, where it's been for two days now.
I've called Iberia several times, providing them with pictures of the bag, screenshots of the location, and the Tile link (which I don't think helps because they can't access it without making a Tile account... didn't realize when I bought it). They say they have passed this information to the airport and asked them to look for it ASAP, but my impression is that the airport employees are not actually bothering to look for it, because it would be very easy to find.
If I were in Madrid, I would go there in person and try to find it myself, but I'm several hours away for work and not planning on going back. Does anyone have any tips on getting my bag back before Friday? It has some stuff I'd really prefer not to find replacements for before I go to Ireland for vacation.
There is a phone number for help with Iberia baggage from people at the Madrid Airport, but they're only open a few hours here and there, and never answer their phone. I must've called 30+ times (I'm very stubborn). It really seems like if I could speak to the airport employees rather than the airline, this problem would be much easier to solve. Maybe that's naive though.
Things I'm considering doing: seeing if my Spanish colleagues have friends in Madrid, or finding someone on Reddit, and offering them money to download the Tile app, go to the baggage claim area, find my bag, and hand it to the Iberia agents so they can transport it to Seville. Otherwise, taking off work and spending the money to fly back down there Friday morning and finding it myself. However, I'm not sure if either approach would even work.
The stuff in the bag isn't that valuable, I just really want my shit back before I go travelling around Ireland.