Re: Madeleine posters torn down in PDL yet again

**bb1** Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:58 pm

http://news.sky.com/story/1153985/madeleine-appeal-angers-praia-da-luz-residents

Madeleine Appeal Angers Praia Da Luz Residents

Expats in the town where Madeleine McCann went missing seven years ago are not keen for the spotlight to be shone on them again.

Robert Nisbet
Europe Correspondent
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Praia da Luz has achieved that unwanted badge of geographical infamy: a town identified with a shocking or awful event.

Like Hungerford, Soham and Columbine this pretty tourist enclave on the Algarve achieved international prominence after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on May 3, 2007.

Understandable then that many of the residents - especially British expats - are less than welcoming to the media which have returned to cover this fresh appeal.

One man who owns a flat in the building where the McCanns were staying was visibly angry at our presence, calling us "pathetic" as he walked away in disgust.

The management of The Ocean Club say there is a good reason for local people wishing the attention would fade: its bad for business.

They refused a request by Sky News to film in the restaurant where the McCanns were staying, but admitted that bookings have still not recovered six years after her disappearance.

Graham Roberts retired here 18 years ago, where he plays the piano every Sunday at the Fortaleza da Luz restaurant.

"There's no doubt that the case has changed the town. People who live here can't understand why Madeleine McCann in particular gets all the publicity when hundreds of children go missing every year," he said.

"There was another appeal recently and posters were put up again all over town. They were ripped down in days. People don't want to be reminded of what happened here."

We met one woman who had made the trip to Luz because she had seen the town on news reports and wanted to visit.

Mary Pearson, a tourist from Cumbria, told Sky News she hopes the reconstruction will eventually help the family be reunited.

"It's just awful what they are going through, I really hope someone remembers something," she said.

"Even if some of the locals don't want the cameras back, if it brings some closure to the parents then it will be worth it."

**bb1** Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:01 pm

"There was another appeal recently and posters were put up again all over town. They were ripped down in days. People don't want to be reminded of what happened here."

Seriously, what the Hell is wrong with them? Acting like the inhabitants of one of those inbred villages in horror films where they kidnap and murder passing hitch-hikers isn't helping one bit.

Behaviour like that is what makes many think the answer is to be found in PDL. Why don't they want a child abductor found and brought to justice, like normal people?

Sadly, children are abducted in pretty places, all over the world. It's not normal for the locals to close ranks and try to deny it happened, as if they're protecting someone.

**lily** Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:42 pm

If, by any chance, that they are protecting someone, then they are afraid of that person.

**bb1** Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:47 pm

It's a shocking attitude, Lily. What do they think is best for their image? Helping the police find child-abducting scum or ripping down posters of an abducted child, because they don't seem to care about anything much except themselves?

You can just about hear Duelling Banjos in the background of that report.

**lily** Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:58 pm

Loved that movie, Bonny. Do not love the attitude of some folks in PdL.

Of course, the correct answer is.......the return of law and order by finding the child and the scum who took her. Yeehaw.

**Pedro Silva** Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:59 pm

people in Praia da Luz must understand this once and for all, this will not go away, not until the child is found, safely returned to her parents, also not go away until the abductor being caught.

if people at Praia da Luz thinks that by ripping posters it is the easy way, they are wrong. they could try to deny it or try to hide it, but that will not happen, not until the child is found, safely returned to her home.

**lily** Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:03 pm

Pedro, you are so right. Trying to sweep it under the carpet cannot work.

Once Madeleine and the abductor has been found, PdL will experience a boost in tourism in all likelihood. Keeping a handle on crime is the only way to go.

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