A 10-year-old boy was reportedly left behind at an airport in Spain by his parents who were eager to catch their flight. The parents, whose identities have not been disclosed, allegedly realized they had failed to pack all the necessary travel documents for their son. Instead of missing their flight, they decided to board the plane, leaving their son at the airport terminal with the hope that a family member would come to pick him up.
The incident was brought to light by a supposed air-operations coordinator at the airport, identified only as Lilian. She shared the story with over 320,000 viewers on TikTok, although her claims have not been independently verified. According to Lilian, the boy informed the police that his parents were on a plane heading for their vacation destination.
Lilian further explained that the boy was traveling with an expired Spanish passport and needed a travel visa. Since he did not have a visa, his parents left him at the terminal and contacted a relative to come and get him. She expressed her disbelief at the situation, stating that both she and the police found the parents’ actions to be abnormal.
The incident is not the first of its kind. In 2018, a couple in Germany left their five-year-old daughter at Stuttgart Airport, each parent assuming the other had taken responsibility for the child. More recently, a two-year-old was found unattended on a luggage conveyor belt at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
Lilian, who is also a mother, described the abandonment of the 10-year-old boy as the most “surreal” experience she has had in her career at the airport. She expressed her shock at how the parents could leave their son at the terminal due to documentation issues and board their flight without concern for his safety.
The parents’ luggage was eventually removed from the flight by airport police, and the couple was taken to the on-site police station for questioning. It remains unclear whether the parents were arrested.