After 3,652 days, Luz’s poignant reminder of its worst nightmare
THE sunrise over Praia da Luz was as breathtaking as ever yesterday – an orange glow bursting into dazzling rays above the “Beach of Light”.
Ten years ago, an excited three-year-old girl woke to such a morning – another day of swimming, sandcastles and holiday fun.
But 14 hours later, Madeleine McCann disappeared
In the following days, her face was flashed around the world – one of the last holiday snaps featured a smiling girl in a pink sun-hat, arms full of yellow tennis balls.
Now a decade has passed and she is still missing.
A bungled Portuguese police investigation, an £11million hunt by British police and a global media blitz have failed to solve the mystery.
Meanwhile, her parents, Kate, 49, and Gerry, 48, and twins Sean and Amelie, 12, have had to face 3,652 sunrises without their precious girl.
Yesterday, in Praia da Luz, locals and holidaymakers attended a service in the church of Our Lady of Light.
It’s the church where the McCanns sought solace and where prayers have been said for Madeleine’s safe return ever since.
When I returned yesterday, I found a community still scarred by the Madeleine legacy.
The Ocean Club resort is in new hands and apartment 5A was bought by a British resident.
The notorious tapas bar, where her parents were dining with friends, has become a family snack bar.
New villas have gone up in the area and the sun-kissed resort was bustling with young families, even after the Easter rush. But many of the 3,700 locals are still bitter that their homes and businesses have been tainted by the tragedy.
“For the first few years business was very tough. People didn’t want to bring kids to a place where a child was ‘stolen’,” one Portuguese shop owner told me.
And Victor Mata, 71, president of the village council, said: “In the beginning, people were very friendly, they all wanted to help.
“But then it became a negative thing for the village – lives were disturbed.”
Other locals have nothing but sympathy for the McCanns.
Shop owner Maria Manuela Costa, 82, says simply: “After all these years, the only thing I feel is sorrow for the missing little girl.”
Many strangers travelled to Luz especially for the anniversary.
Barbara Marsh, 52, from Gravesend, Kent, said: “I was here the year after the little love disappeared and I wanted to come back,” she said.
“I can’t imagine what her parents are feeling. Like Kate says, today is a horrible marker of stolen time.”
As the sun sank over the sea, two other women went down to the beach and released 10 pink balloons.
Ronay Crompton, 38, and Tracy Barber, 48, both from Bradford, West Yorks, have followed her story from day one. Ronay said: “I’ve read everything I can about her, the police investigations and other missing children.
“I have my own theories, but none of them matter today. We should just be concentrating on that little girl, who came on holiday with her family and never went home again.”