Parents of a 10-year-old boy are accused of leaving their young son alone at the airport over an issue with his documentation so they can catch a flight to go on vacation.
Spain's national police, Guardia Civil, said that the incident with the boy took place at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport. Authorities said that the 10-year-old was not able to board his flight because of issues with his documentation. His parents then left their son unaccompanied as they boarded their flight with their younger child.
Parents Leave 10-Year-old Son Alone at Airport
Airport staff initially alerted Catalonia police, Mossos d'Esquadra, about the incident because the boy was found in a public area of the airport, which is where they have jurisdiction. In turn, they alerted the Guardia Civil, as it has jurisdiction over restricted parts of the airport.
Officials with the Guardia Civil temporarily stopped the flight that the boy's parents were on and found family members inside. They were then escorted to a Mossos d'Esquadra station, where the 10-year-old child was taken to for safety reasons, according to USA Today.
Airport staff talked about the reason given to them for why the parents decided to leave their son alone and continue with their flight. This was because they did not want to lose their tickets and simply called a relative to pick up the 10-year-old boy.
Lilian, an airline coordinator, said that she has seen a lot of different situations in the past, but this particular incident was "surreal." She questioned how parents could leave their young child alone in the terminal because he was not able to travel due to a document issue, VisasNews reported.
Not Wasting Their Tickets
The controversial incident became viral online through a TikTok video that was posted by Lilian, which shared the boy's story to the public. The post quickly got more than 300,000 views, with many users criticizing the parents' actions of leaving their son behind.
Lilian also explained that the 10-year-old child had two different passports, one of which was expired and another, which was a Spanish passport, that required a visa, which was not arranged.
The parents and the young boy all seemed to treat the situation as normal, but Lilian and law enforcement personnel took it seriously. They quickly investigated the entire incident before talking to the couple.
For now, it is unclear whether or not the parents were formally arrested by police or what legal consequences they could face. But the incident has raised serious questions about child safety and parental responsibility during international travel, as per the Times of India.
