A baby boy was abandoned by his British parents and found near an airport in southern Portugal, a police spokesman said today.
A resident near the airport of Faro, a southern resort city, found the three-month-old boy. Police said the boy's parents, aged between 26 and 30, were thought to have abandoned him just before flying to London's Gatwick airport.
The British couple have been identified, but police could not name them for legal reasons. They lived in an apartment in the nearby town of Albufeira and ran a time-share business, the spokesman said.
The child was taken for observation to a Faro hospital, where a nurse recognised the child as having been born there in October as he had an identifiable harelip. The boy has been placed in a shelter for abandoned children while a court decides who will have custody.
Police said a criminal investigation was under way. Abandoning a child is a crime punishable by up to eight years in prison under Portuguese law.
A spokeswoman at the British Embassy confirmed the baby had been taken into official care and was being well looked after.