Controversy in Spain after the expulsion of rowdy children from a train

The unrecognized dream of many travelers, which in the end was not to everyone’s taste. According to the Spanish newspaper The countryAbout twenty children and their two companions from La Llacuna, in Catalonia, were simply expelled from the train they were on because it was too noisy and turbulent.

These children were traveling on this train from Barcelona to León (downtown) as part of a summer camp when the incident occurred on Monday afternoon.

Travelers Complaint

According to Renfe, the Spanish equivalent of SNCF, the controller asked them to get off the train at Palencia station, shortly before its arrival in Léon, due to their “behavior” which caused “complaints” from several passengers.

The children were making excessive “noise” and running around in the cars, the railway company said. A behavior that would have continued despite the requests made to the two instructors who accompanied them.

The group of children finally joined Léon aboard a “coach” placed at his disposal and they were “permanently accompanied by Renfe and National Police personnel,” he said in a press release.

The Ombudsman seized

The decision of the railway group was denounced by the parents of the affected students, who considered the reaction of the railway group to be disproportionate and raised the possibility of taking legal action.

This case reached the Ombudsman, the Spanish equivalent to the French Rights Defender, who announced on Thursday night the opening of an investigation to see if Renfe’s decision could constitute an attack on “children’s rights”. .

An “in-depth investigation” is needed to understand “why” the Renfe controller “made this decision”, acknowledged, also this Thursday night, the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, questioned on public television.

On Twitter, former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont’s chief of staff, Josep Lluis Alay, tried to put a political spin on the incident, recalling that the children were from Catalonia.

“We will not allow these Catalanophobes to abuse our children again,” wrote the separatist official.

In the face of criticism, Renfe assured that it had opened an “internal investigation to clarify the facts.” “It is the first time that a measure of this type has been taken,” he assured, referring to an “exceptional” decision.