Alex Batty, the British teenager who was missing for more than six years and was located in the south of France, has spoken for the first time since his arrival in the United Kingdom, where on Saturday he met, as was his wish, with his grandmother and the rest of the family.

“I'm glad to be here for Christmas,” said the 17-year-old teenager when he returned from shopping with a relative.

The minor resides with his grandmother in Oldham, next to Manchester. The grandmother is his legal guardian and had been looking for the minor since 2017, when his mother took him to Malaga on vacation, when he was 11 years old, and said that they would never return.

The woman showed her emotion after finding her grandson again: “It's amazing. It's an incredible story. It's amazing after all these years. I am in shock. “I can't believe it,” he said after speaking with him.

The minor has not yet given a statement to Greater Manchester Police. Agents want to try to reconstruct the events surrounding his disappearance and the years he spent living in a “spiritual commune” with his mother and grandfather, according to British press reports.

The minor's mother, for her part, remains unknown, although the French Police assure that she has no arrest warrant.