Parents allegedly abandon 10-year-old at airport, board flight to holiday: ‘Completely surreal’

A couple allegedly left their 10-year-old son alone at Barcelona Airport after discovering his passport had expired—choosing to board their flight without him rather than miss their departure.

The incident was revealed in a viral TikTok video shared by a woman named Lilian, an air-operations coordinator at the Spanish airport.

According to the New York Post, Lilian’s video has since racked up over 300,000 views, sparking widespread outrage over the parents’ actions.

Lilian claimed the couple arranged for a relative to pick up the child so they could continue their holiday. “They didn’t want to waste their tickets,” she said, recalling the parents’ explanation to airport staff.

Authorities found the boy alone in the terminal. He reportedly told police that his parents had already boarded the plane and were on their way home.

“The child was travelling with an expired Spanish passport and lacked the necessary visa,” Lilian explained. “Because of this, the parents left him in the terminal and called a relative to collect him.”

She described the moment as “completely surreal” and said both she and the police were shocked by the situation. “I’m an air traffic controller, and I’ve seen a lot, but this was completely unbelievable,” she added. “I can’t imagine leaving my child behind like that.”

Airport police reportedly removed the couple’s luggage from the aircraft and took them in for questioning. It remains unclear whether any arrests were made in connection with the incident.

According to the New York Post, the incident echoes previous cases of child abandonment at airports—including a 2018 case in Germany, where a couple left their five-year-old at Stuttgart Airport. More recently, a toddler in New Jersey was swept away on a luggage conveyor belt.