A couple reportedly left their 10-year-old son at a Barcelona airport after his passport had expired so they wouldn’t miss their flight to their home country, according to media reports. 

The Sun reported that a terminal worker at the airport said the couple left Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport on Wednesday without their child, choosing to have a relative pick him.

The air traffic control worker who went by Lilian, discussed the incident in a TikTok video, saying the child was prohibited from flying because of his expired passport. He also required a visa. 

A passenger walks with her luggage at the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport in El Prat de Llobregat on July 6, 2020. A couple reportedly left their young son at the airport when his passport expired to they wouldn’t miss their flight.  (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

He then asked passengers “if someone had left a child in the terminal and no one had answered.” The parents were located, who were accompanied by another younger child.

The parents were taken to a police station to get their son. 

“How is it possible for parents to leave their ten-year-old son at the terminal because he cannot travel due to documentation issues?” Lilian said. “They call a relative but the relative may take half an hour, about an hour, about three hours and they take the flight so calmly and leave the child behind!”

The control tower of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona El Prat Airport is pictured in El Prat, Spain on October 17, 2023. (Photo by Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Photo by Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images))

It was not clear if the parents were charged with any crime or their nationality.