Alex Trelinski
A UK traveller to Spain was locked up at Alicante-Elche airport for over 32 hours after losing her passport during her journey from Glasgow on Saturday.
Sharon Dempsey, 66, flew out with her brother, but was barred admission by Policia Nacional officers after mislaying her document.
She was taken to a detention centre before relatives managed to book her a flight back to the UK, albeit over 400 miles south of her home, into Gatwick.
Sharon’s daughter, Adele Dempsey, told Glasgow Live: “My mum was kept in a detention centre at the airport, similar to a cell, and wasn’t given anything decent to eat or drink. She had two cold rolls and water and that’s it.”
“I know that rules are rules but she was being treated like a criminal – not just someone who had accidentally lost her passport.”
Adele added that her mother definitely had the passport when she boarded the flight but noticed it was missing while on the shuttle bus to the Alicante-Elche airport terminal building.
A quick return to Glasgow was not possible as emergency documents were not immediately available.
Eventually a flight was booked to Gatwick on Sunday.
Adele Dempsey said: “She was taken by police escort on the plane arm in arm, and back off the same way.”
“She was in a terrible state and hadn’t even washed her face and felt so dirty and was left in tears outside Gatwick with another long wait to get back to Glasgow,” she added.
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