Couple arrested in Spain after allegedly leaving three young kids in hotel room to go party

Three young children have been taken into care after they were allegedly left alone in a hotel room while their parents went out partying.

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Chloe Maher
The Nightly
The siblings were found in a hotel room in the Costa del Sol resort town of Benalmadena after staff found two of the children unattended in the property’s common areas and alerted police.
The siblings were found in a hotel room in the Costa del Sol resort town of Benalmadena after staff found two of the children unattended in the property’s common areas and alerted police. Credit: Steve McKenna/The West Australian

A British couple have been arrested in Spain after allegedly leaving their three young children in a hotel room so they could go out partying, with local reports claiming the youngest child tested positive for drugs.

The siblings were found in a hotel room in the Costa del Sol resort town of Benalmadena after staff found two of the children unattended in the property’s common areas and alerted police, The Local Spain reports.

Officers who attended the hotel allegedly found the room in a state of disarray where the eldest child, 4, was left in charge of caring for his two younger siblings, aged two and six months old.

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The three children were taken to Maternal and Child Hospital in Malaga for medical assessment, where the six-month old baby tested positive for cocaine after receiving treatment, local radio station Cadena Ser reports.

According to Daily Mail, officers were not able to comment on reports the baby tested positive for drugs.

The married couple, a 41-year-old man and 28-year-old woman were taken into custody on Thursday and are being investigated over alleged child abandonment.

“A British man aged 41 and a woman aged 28 have been held on suspicion of a crime of child abandonment,” a spokesperson for Spain’s National Police said as cited by Daily Mail.

“Their children, aged six months, a year and a bit and four, were found alone at the hotel and have been taken to hospital.

“A specialist branch of the National Police called UFAM, a family and women assistance unit, is involved and the Junta de Andalucia’s social services’ unit has taken temporary charge of the children.”

In a statement provided to Europa Press, the Andalusian government confirmed the three children had been placed under the protection of the government’s child welfare services and assigned a foster family.

Torremolinos-Benalmádena police continue to investigate the incident.

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