Parents abandon 10-year-old son at airport after his passport expires

At El-Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, a couple left their 10-year-old son behind at the terminal because his passport had expired, and attempted to fly to Morocco by themselves. The incident also caused a delayed flight.

Flight grounded

Lilian Limasin, an air traffic controller at the airport, shared this story on her TikTok page.

According to her, last month at 08:30 in the morning while supervising a flight to Casablanca, she received an urgent message to temporarily hold the aircraft.

This was because the Catalan police had found a 10-year-old boy wandering alone at the airport. The boy stated that his parents had left him behind and gone.

Airport staff made announcements to find his parents, but no one responded. It was later discovered that they were on board the Casablanca-bound flight. Consequently, the Spanish Civil Guard requested that the flight be halted.

Parents did not want to cancel the trip

During the police investigation, it turned out that the couple had planned to go on vacation to Morocco with their two children. However, a document check revealed that their eldest son's passport had expired.

Since the boy's national passport had expired, he had to travel with a Spanish passport. But this required a visa, and the family did not have the necessary document.

Lilian Limasin explained that instead of canceling the trip, the parents left their son at the airport, called one of their relatives to pick him up, and rushed to board the plane themselves.

The air traffic controller noted that the parents considered this behavior normal. However, the police did not view their decision the same way.

Currently, the couple is accused of abandoning a minor child and causing a significant flight delay.

According to Spanish media reports, social services are investigating the incident. What measures will be taken against the parents will be known after the investigation concludes.