Icelandic cat found after being lost in Spain for 16 days

The cat Gutti Diego was lost in Alicante Airport for 16 days. He grew up in Iceland and moved with his family to Spain nearly three weeks ago.

The family had paid for Gutti to travel in the cabin on their way to Spain, but he never made it there. The staff of the airline, Primera Air, however assured them the cat was doing fine.

When they arrived in Alicante in Spain the cage was empty and Gutti had disappeared.

Ólína Björk Kúld Pét­urs­dótt­ir, Gutti’s owner, says it was difficult to reach any staff of Primera Air when they discovered Gutti was missing. They managed to borrow a small car and vests from the airport to search for the cat.

They searched to no avail and as the days went by they feared the worst, the cat had been lost for such a long time.

A British man named Jeffrey, who works at Alicante airport, found Gutti and managed to trap him in a cage to catch him. His girlfriend had seen pictures of Gutti on social media the family had posted in search of him, and had showed them to Jeffrey.

Primera Air promised two flight tickets as a reward for anyone who would find the cat. The family contacted the airline directly to make sure Jeffrey received his prize.

Pétursdóttir is adamant in finding where the blame lies, to make sure no other pet or family has to endure anything like this again.

Gutti is a bit shaken after the ordeal but the family believes he’ll make a full recovery.

Jeffrey managed to catch Gutti in a cage. Photo: Hafliði Kúld