No, we’re not referring to the elderly couple who got lost in the woods, but a much younger couple that left three kids in a car whilst they enjoyed the beach.

Apparently the kids were playing up and the parents decided to lock them in the car whilst they went to the beach, to teach them a lesson… but this is Andalucia in late summer – you wouldn’t do it to your dog.

The incident occurred on the 28th of August at 14.45h in Benalmádena, Málaga when the 48-year-old father and 39-year-old mother had heard just enough about how their offspring didn’t like the beach that their parents had chosen – they wanted to go to one where you could hire pedalos. The said kids, by the way were two boys and a girl, aged between 10 and 14.

It was a passerby who happened upon the car in a public car park on Avendia del Sol near the old N-340, near Torrequebrada. He saw that the children were unable to get out of the car, which was parked in the sun, so he called the police.

Two officers from the Policía Nacional turned up are confirmed that three children were locked in a car, without ventilation or water and unable to open he doors or windows. The police calculated that they had been trapped like this for at least half an hour.

The fire service was called in, who smash one of the side windows to get the children out. The firemen gave the children water to drink, as they were showing signs of dehydration, sweating profusely and close to fainting, as the temperature in the car was around 40º Celsius.

With the help of the eldest child, the police set off in search of the parents and found them on a beach about 500 metres away – they were arrested on the spot for temporary abandonment of minors, which under the Spanish Penal Code could earn them between 18 months and 3-years’ imprisonment.

(News: Benalmadena, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)