Late spring sunshine reflects off the white-washed wall of a church where two desperate parents prayed for the return of their missing three-year-old daughter.
That was 14 years ago and their prayers still have not been answered.
On Wednesday, Madeleine McCann would be turning 18 and parents Kate and Gerry and their teenage twins will be marking the day without her.
The church, the Nossa Senhora da Luz, is where the McCanns were “able to seek solace” in the days and weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance.
In the months and years since their heartbreaking loss it is where Kate feels closest to her missing girl.
(Image: Phil Harris)
But now Nossa Senhora, like the rest of Praia da Luz, is eerily quiet.
It is the start of the tourist season but the Covid-19 pandemic is keeping holidaymakers away. Locals are hoping Portugal’s inclusion on England’s green travel list will mean plenty of visitors head there this summer.
But the tragedy of the disappearance in May 2007 continues to haunt this beautiful resort in the Algarve.
Kate, 53, and Gerry, 52, have asked their friends to mark the emotional moment of Madeleine’s birthday in a low-key manner.
(Image: Phil Harris)
Instead of celebrating her joyous transition from childhood to adulthood, the family will leave gifts and cards in her untouched bedroom in Rothley, Leics, and light a candle in her memory.
Madeleine’s great-uncle Brian Kennedy, 81, said they still believe they will discover what happened to their beloved daughter.
The retired headteacher said: “Kate and Gerry have asked the family and supporters to remember Madeleine’s birthday quietly.”
He added: “They continue to hope for a definitive outcome to the continuing investigation.”
(Image: METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Gett)
Kate and Gerry continue to think she is alive somewhere and will one day be reunited with them.
Despite millions of pounds being spent on a Scotland Yard operation and private investigators, the fate of the world’s most infamous missing child remains a mystery.
Her disappearance technically becomes a missing person’s case from Wednesday as she is now classed as an adult.
But to Kate and Gerry she is still the bubbly three-year-old who went on holiday to Praia da Luz and never came home. The resort has changed little in the past 14 years.
(Image: Phil Harris)
But for locals here, the painful memories of that fateful night are as vivid as ever. Mentioning the Madeleine case here elicits two reactions – sympathy for her family or anger at what it did to Praia da Luz.
Holiday bookings slumped after her disappearance, with British families fearful of taking their kids to the resort.
Graffiti still adorns some stop signs on the streets of the resort. They read “Stop McCann Circus”.
David Jones, 76, the creator of children’s character Fireman Sam, has lived and worked in Praia da Luz for 34 years. He helped in the initial searches for Madeleine on the night she vanished.
(Image: Phil Harris)
He told the Daily Mirror on Tuesday: “I remember that night vividly. I drove into town around 9pm.
“Everyone was out searching, so my kids and I did the same for at least the next two days. It brings back extremely sad memories and it’s hard to believe she would be turning 18.
“Regardless of what is said about whether she was left alone that night, she was a child and is still missing.”
David, originally from Ealing, West London, said: “Praia da Luz is a wonderful place but has undoubtedly suffered.
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“The tourists stayed away for the first couple of years, people were too scared to bring their kids here.
“My friend is ex-SAS and used to holiday here all the time, but I remember in 2008 even he said he wasn’t coming. A few businesses never recovered from that tourism slump and went under, but gradually things have got better.”
Maria Silva, owner of the Hugo Beauty bar, said: “Nobody really talks about Madeleine now unless it comes on the TV news.
“It brings back bad memories for everyone and although it is very sad, people would rather not think about it.
(Image: PA)
“Covid has been tough for all of us business owners, we’ve been shut for a long time, hopefully we can open soon.”
Local resident Leonor Coval, 23, added: “A lot of people here can be very negative about Madeleine’s parents. But it’s unimaginable not knowing where your child has been for 14 years and having to mark her 18th without her.”
The McCanns’ holiday apartment on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva has changed ownership since Madeleine vanished.
It is currently owned by a British woman who declined to comment when approached by the Mirror on Tuesday. The waist-high side fence, where Madeleine’s abductor got into the apartment, has been replaced with a 6ft gate.
(Image: BILD)
Kate and Gerry were dining with friends in the Ocean Club tapas restaurant when she vanished. Like much of the resort, that too was shut on Tuesday.
German invest- igators are convinced convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner is responsible for her disappearance. Prosecutors claim to know Madeleine is dead, yet have not gone public with evidence they have.
Scotland Yard’s hunt for her abductor continues, with four detectives still working on Operation Grange. A summit between German, British and Portuguese detectives is due to take place in Lisbon this summer.
Brueckner, 44, was named as the prime suspect for Madeleine’s disappearance by German prosecutors last June.
They believe he abducted and killed her. He is currently serving a seven-year term in a prison in Hanover for raping a pensioner in Praia da Luz in 2005.
His lawyer Friedrich Fulscher insists the German has nothing to do with the youngster’s disappearance.
The McCanns are being kept up to date with the investigation through a Scotland Yard family liaison officer.
And as they mark her 18th birthday on Wednesday, they continue to pray they will one day be reunited with Madeleine.
