In a story that sounds a bit like Home Alone, a documentation problem prevented a 10-year-old boy from boarding a flight at Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport. His parents reportedly responded by boarding without him.
They took their younger child onto the plane while the older boy remained unaccompanied in a public section of the terminal.
Airport employees found the child and contacted police. Officers stopped the flight, identified the parents and escorted the family back off the aircraft.
Two Spanish law-enforcement agencies later confirmed the core details. The parents were reported for child abandonment, although available reports do not establish whether prosecutors ultimately filed charges.
While this story happened last summer, it has gone viral again as summer travel has ramped up this month.
An airport employee described the unusual situation
Embedded media follows. Please allow a moment for it to load. The audio is in Spanish, but English captions are available.
@limasin41 Historias de aeropuerto surrealistas!! #aeropuerto #abandono #historytime #flightdispatcher #viralvideos #paratiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ♬ original sound – Limasin
Airport coordinator Lilian Limasin described the incident in an original TikTok video posted July 27 of last year. Limasin said the family discovered that the boy could not travel due to issues with his passport and a required visa. The parents allegedly called a relative to collect him, then continued toward the plane with their other child.
The aircraft had already moved away from the gate when employees learned that the boy was alone. According to Limasin, the plane returned to its parking position while authorities searched for his parents.
Spanish police confirmed the parents boarded without him
Spain’s Guardia Civil confirmed the incident directly to USA Today. The Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, initially responded because the boy was in a public section of the airport. Officers then contacted the Guardia Civil, which has jurisdiction over restricted airport areas.
Have you ever seen a child alone at an airport? TSA reminds passengers to report any unaccompanied children to airport security.