A couple is facing global criticism after allegedly leaving their 10-year-old son behind at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport due to an expired passport—just so they could continue with their holiday plans. The shocking incident came to light when an air traffic controller at the airport shared the story on TikTok. The video quickly went viral, amassing over 300,000 views and sparking widespread outrage.

According to the controller, the boy was stopped from boarding because his passport had expired and he didn’t have a necessary visa. But instead of postponing their trip or staying behind with their son, the parents chose to go ahead with their travel plans and boarded the flight, leaving the child behind. They reportedly arranged for a relative to come and collect the boy later.

“As a controller, I’ve seen a lot of strange things,” the woman said in the video. “But this was completely surreal. I still can’t believe it.”

Airport authorities became aware of the situation when they noticed the young boy sitting alone near the boarding gates, visibly upset and confused. When questioned, he explained that his parents had already boarded the plane and were on their way to their home country for vacation.

The airport staff immediately alerted local police, who launched a search to locate the couple. Eventually, the parents were tracked down and brought to a police station for questioning. The controller, who is also a mother, expressed deep concern over the incident and the apparent disregard the parents showed for their child’s well-being.

“I’m just in shock,” she said. “How can any parent knowingly leave their 10-year-old child behind in a terminal because his documents weren’t in order? They calmly called someone to come and pick him up, which could have taken half an hour or three hours—who knows? Then they just boarded their flight and left him behind.”

At this time, Spanish authorities have not issued any official statements confirming the full details of the case. The names and nationalities of the parents have also not been released. It remains unclear whether they have been formally arrested or charged. While many on social media are calling for legal action and even child endangerment charges, no definitive outcome has been reported by the police.

The anonymity of the parents has, so far, protected them from the full force of online backlash that often follows such viral stories. Still, the decision to abandon their son at an international airport has drawn fierce criticism from people around the world. “I don’t care what the reason is,” one commenter wrote. “No vacation is worth leaving your kid behind.”

However, not everyone was quick to condemn. A few online commenters speculated that the parents may have been under financial stress and made what they thought was a tough but necessary decision. “They probably spent thousands on flights and accommodations,” one person wrote. “It’s a terrible decision, but maybe they were desperate.”

Still, for many, the reasoning is irrelevant. The emotional and psychological impact on a 10-year-old left alone in a busy airport, in a foreign country, with no clear idea of what was happening, is unimaginable.

This isn’t the first time a situation like this has occurred. Comparisons are already being drawn to a similar incident in early 2023, when a Belgian couple left their infant in a stroller at the check-in counter at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. In that case, the parents realized too late that they hadn’t purchased a ticket for the baby. Rather than resolving the issue, they reportedly left the infant and rushed toward passport control.

Airline staff, shocked and confused, discovered the baby beneath a blanket. Video footage of the incident showed audible gasps as workers pulled back the cover and realized what had happened. Security and police were immediately notified. Officers intercepted the couple before they could board their flight and returned them to the counter. After questioning, Israeli police confirmed that the baby was safely back in the parents’ care, and no charges were filed.

The Tel Aviv case stunned many, but it appears the Barcelona situation has ignited similar disbelief and anger. People are now questioning how far parents are willing to go to protect their vacation plans or save money. The idea that anyone would prioritize travel over the safety and emotional well-being of their own child is difficult for most to grasp.

“This wasn’t an accident,” one TikTok viewer commented. “They didn’t forget him. They knew he couldn’t go, and they still chose to leave. That’s abandonment, plain and simple.”

While it’s easy to get caught up in the outrage, the story also raises deeper issues about parental responsibility, travel safety for minors, and how airlines and airport staff handle such delicate situations. Are policies in place to ensure no child can be left alone in a terminal? Should there be stricter rules requiring at least one parent to stay behind in cases where a minor is denied boarding?

For now, many are simply hoping that the boy is okay and that he was reunited with his family safely. It’s unclear if the relative who was supposed to pick him up ever arrived or how long the child was left alone at the terminal.

As the public continues to demand answers, Spanish authorities remain tight-lipped. Whether legal action will be taken is still uncertain. What is certain, however, is that this story has touched a nerve globally. In an age when travel is increasingly accessible and family vacations are more common than ever, incidents like this remind us that no destination is more important than the duty of care parents owe to their children.

And in this case, that duty may have been abandoned at the gate.