It is normal practice in a criminal investigation in Portugal to undertake a 'reconstitution' of events in which the original participants and witnesses all take part. This event is somewhat distinct from the reconstruction which police in the UK use where deemed necessary when investigating a serious crime. The main difference being that a reconstruction usually involves using police officers or actors.
The officer who lead the original investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Dr Gonçalo Amaral, wanted to carry out a reconstitution but was unable to do so and later stated for the record, "The number of tourists, the number of journalists and the fact that the air space had to be closed (because of helicopters from the media) and the fact that it would make the public suspect the McCanns were being treated as suspects prevented it."
An attempt to carry out a reconstitution at a later date was met by refusals by many of the witnesses who had by then returned to the UK rendering it impossible. It was subsequently abandoned.
To the best of our knowledge, no official reconstitution or reconstruction has ever taken place in the seven years since Madeleine disappeared.
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