Parents accused of abandoning 10-year-old son at airport so they wouldn't miss their flight

A couple is facing intense backlash after allegedly leaving their 10-year-old son behind at Barcelona-El Prat Airport when his passport issue prevented him from boarding — because they didn’t want to miss their own flight.

According to a viral TikTok video posted by airport air traffic coordinator Lilian, the incident unfolded earlier this week after staff realized the boy's passport had expired and that he also needed a visa to fly. Rather than stay behind with him, the parents reportedly chose to board the flight anyway, arranging for a relative to retrieve the child.

“They left the child and got on the plane,” Lilian said in her video, translated from Spanish, which has since racked up over 300,000 views. “The kid told us his parents were on the plane heading to their home country for vacation.”

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But the plan unraveled when staff noticed the boy alone and contacted the authorities. Police were alerted, and the pilot of the plane was notified mid-boarding. He reportedly made an announcement asking if any passenger had left a child behind in the terminal — and was met with silence.

Eventually, the parents were located, accompanied by a younger sibling. It’s unclear if they were removed from the plane or allowed to travel. Spanish authorities have not yet issued a public statement on the incident.

Online, the video has sparked a firestorm of outrage, with many commenters questioning how parents could prioritize a vacation over their child’s safety.

“Before I’d ever leave my child behind, I’d leave my husband,” wrote one commenter in the comment section, also translated from Spanish. “My child comes with me, always.”

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Another user fumed, “This should be considered abandonment. In an advanced society, this is criminal behavior.”

Others were stunned by the logistics: “If the child was already in the boarding area, how did they expect a relative to even get in to pick him up?” asked one.

A former hotel worker even shared a chilling anecdote of their own: “I used to work in a hotel in Menorca. A German couple left their 8-year-old child behind in the hospital after an accident — and flew home to Germany without him.”

Some were heartbroken: “Am I the only one whose heart sank hearing that they left him there?” wrote one user. “I can’t understand how anyone could do that to their child.”

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And one mother put it simply: “Just thinking about this makes me want to cry. With the way the world is today, leaving a child alone in a busy airport terminal is unthinkable.”

Others, though, defended the parents, saying the child wasn’t a toddler and would be picked up quickly. But that opinion was in the minority — with most calling the decision “surreal,” “unforgivable,” and “a total parenting failure.”

Yahoo CreatorAlesandra DubinAlesandra (Alice) Dubin is an award-winning travel and lifestyle journalist. She has a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA in journalism from NYU. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their twins.FollowFollow