Parents 'abandon child, 10, at airport after he's blocked from boarding'

Parents abandoned their 10‑year‑old child at Barcelona–El Prat Airport after his passport was rejected, it has been claimed.

Flying as a child can be an intensely exciting and slightly scary experience. The early morning wake‑up, the hubbub of the airport, and the rush of taking off all feel particularly thrilling when you're doing them for the first time.

Such thrills seemingly turned sour for one child, who was left standing in the terminal while his parents boarded an international flight, according to a woman claiming to work at the Spanish airport. The claims have emerged as more details have become public on a new entry/exit system to the EU.

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TikToker Lilian Limasin, who claims to be an air‑operations coordinator, has published a video detailing the alleged experience. She said that the ordeal came to light when the flight was suddenly called back to its parking position. The turnaround occurred after police informed her that a child had been found alone in the terminal’s public area, not the secure airside zone.

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“I had all the passengers on board. So when they told me a child had been found in the terminal, I couldn’t understand how he had been left behind,” she claimed.

According to Limasin, authorities discovered the boy, who told them his parents had left him at the airport while they boarded a flight back. Having realised his Spanish passport required a visa for their destination, and because his foreign passport had expired, the boarding staff told him that he would not be allowed to fly.

Not wanting to swallow the costs of rebooking or cancelling their trip, they left him in the terminal and called a relative to pick him up, the TikToker claimed. The plane was brought to a shuddering halt when air‑traffic control contacted the cockpit and requested confirmation. The pilot allegedly asked over the PA if anyone had left a child behind, but received no response.

Police then boarded the plane and identified the parents using a list of passengers known to be onboard. Limasin claimed that they were removed from the flight and taken to the airport police station for questioning.

“These are the kinds of stories you never forget. As a mother, I can’t imagine leaving my child behind even for a second, let alone to go on holiday,” she said. “I didn’t see it as normal and the police didn’t see it as normal either.”

She added: “I remember when my daughter was little I would lose her for a second and the girl would already be there, and as a mother I would freak out.”

The veracity of the TikToker’s claims is difficult to verify. The Mirror has contacted Limasin to ask her to provide more details about the incident. A spokesperson for El Prat Airport declined the opportunity to comment, saying they did not have any information on the issue to share.