Madeleine McCann: Mari Luz Cortes connection, fact and fiction.

[Sunny]

I tend to judge a locale using a variety of factors one of which is graffiti defacement ... in 2014 I would have been singularly unimpressed to find walls and signage so marked leaving a permanent memory of Luz for the sake of a transient occurrence.
Very off putting.

However is this the thread for the discussion of the world economic situation as it affected Luz?

No but it is not about the posters that were defaced in Praia Da Luz either. Perhaps the thread is fluid and covering more topics than the OP statement covered. It seems to happen here regularly.

On the posters that were defaced, I cannot understand what the McCanns hoped to gain by putting them up, as anyone in the village would have known about Madeleine anyway and it would just make those people uncomfortable to see her face everywhere. All IMO.

[Brietta]

No but it is not about the posters that were defaced in Praia Da Luz either. Perhaps the thread is fluid and covering more topics than the OP statement covered. It seems to happen here regularly.

On the posters that were defaced, I cannot understand what the McCanns hoped to gain by putting them up, as anyone in the village would have known about Madeleine anyway and it would just make those people uncomfortable to see her face everywhere. All IMO.

In my opinion numbering amongst people who might have felt "uncomfortable" at publicising a missing child in the place she disappeared from are perpetrators or those who are covering for perpetrators.

[G-Unit]

In my opinion numbering amongst people who might have felt "uncomfortable" at publicising a missing child in the place she disappeared from are perpetrators or those who are covering for perpetrators.

Well, of course. Those who bore the brunt of the unprecedented media storm, those who saw their village described as unsafe, those who lost their jobs must have been quite happy to see 'the circus' carrying on regardless.

[Sunny]

In my opinion numbering amongst people who might have felt "uncomfortable" at publicising a missing child in the place she disappeared from are perpetrators or those who are covering for perpetrators.

I would imagine that any perpetrators would probably not feel uncomfortable on seeing billboards as they would believe that they are home free as Scotland Yard and the current PJ investigation haven't got anywhere IMO.

But Brietta what about the innocent local shop and pub keepers and their workers who's livelihoods rely on tourism in the village. Any thoughts for them and how they would feel?

[Angelo222]

Come on, Alice.

What reason would teenagers have to mutilate all the Madeleine posters IMO?   Noteably not only Madeleines face BUT ALSO the PHONE NUMBER TO CONTACT with information

No, imo, it was organised by a cetain group, who for some reason wanted it to be forgotten that an abduction had happened.

I wonder why ?

I don't believe it was teenagers who did that. IMO it was a message to foreigners to butt out of Portuguese affairs.

[Carana]

I see you haven't share anything about all being well, in a financial sense in Praia Da Luz following Madeleine's disappearance.

How about this to show that all was NOT well.

The holiday company at the centre of the Madeleine McCann disappearance has launched a legal action against its insurers to recover lost earnings.

Mark Warner says holidaymakers stayed away from its Praia da Luz resort in Portugal because of the huge media coverage of the disappearance of Madeleine, then aged three, almost two years ago.

The firm filed the writ in the high court seeking compensation from AIG, the big US insurance company, which has had to be bailed out by the US government.

Although the writ has yet to be made public, the Guardian understands that the claim will centre around losses from "interrupted business", normally used to cover businesses that can no longer trade because of flooding or loss of power supplies. AIG is expected to contest the claim.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/04/madeleine-mcann-disappearance-holiday-resort

Not all of the writ was concerning Praia Da Luz but some was. So there was economic loss in the village thanks to Madeleine going missing.

"Although the writ has yet to be made public, the Guardian understands that the claim will centre around losses from "interrupted business", ]normally used to cover businesses that can no longer trade because of flooding or loss of power supplies. AIG is expected to contest the claim."

I remember looking into  that at the time, but I don't remember what the result of that claim was, if any.

Since that happened, a little restaurant that I often popped into (not in Portugal) was vandalised. The owners were able to claim against insurance for repairs, which took ages, but not against the salaries that still had to be paid or loss of earnings.

I wondered later if that type of coverage was of a similar nature to what the OC was seeking, but I didn't check that out any further.

[Brietta]

Well, of course. Those who bore the brunt of the unprecedented media storm, those who saw their village described as unsafe, those who lost their jobs must have been quite happy to see 'the circus' carrying on regardless.

"The Circus" concerned part of an investigation on behalf of a missing child.

[ShiningInLuz]

"The Circus" concerned part of an investigation on behalf of a missing child.

Nevertheless it did have all the elements of a Circus. 

[Venturi Swirl]

Nevertheless it did have all the elements of a Circus. 

Elephants?

[Brietta]

Elephants?

Didn't see them ... but I saw one or two clowns being interviewed.

[Carana]

I would imagine that any perpetrators would probably not feel uncomfortable on seeing billboards as they would believe that they are home free as Scotland Yard and the current PJ investigation haven't got anywhere IMO.

But Brietta what about the innocent local shop and pub keepers and their workers who's livelihoods rely on tourism in the village. Any thoughts for them and how they would feel?

From the same Guardian article (April  2009):

"It is unclear how far the company's profits were hit by the affair. Its latest accounts show that it made a loss of £2.8m in the year up to October 2007, on a turnover of £46m. It blamed the loss in part to Madeleine's disappearance, saying: "The results for the year reflect the difficult trading conditions experienced by certain parts of the tour operating industry."

Last year, Hopkins told Travel Trade Gazette that the number of parents choosing to go to its resort in Portugal declined immediately after Madeleine's disappearance, but business was "very buoyant" later in the summer of 2007."

Although I find it understandable that families with young children may have cancelled in the months following her disappearance (and even couples without kids being  put off by the media circus),  I don't quite see the connection between her disappearance and the "difficult trading conditions experienced by certain parts of the tour operating industry".

The fact that in  Jan 07, the Eur/GBP rate was around 0.65, but by Dec 2008 it was hovering close to par, IMO seems a more logical explanation of the "difficult trading conditions" for the industry beyond the immediate aftermath. https://www.dailyfx.com/eur-gbp

Secondly, even in the aftermath, while the OC may well have suffered from cancellations, the media swarm would have brought considerable custom to the village and environs.

I therefore question the extent to which a longer-term downturn in  bookings (and therefore jobs) across the industry could  be attributed to  the "interrupted business" as a result of her disappearance, which was seemingly the object of the insurance claim, as opposed to the lousy exchange rate from a UK perspective.

In any case, although it created resentment, I doubt that defacing a poster of a missing little girl, including the number to ring, would have made the village appear particularly welcoming either.

[G-Unit]

Didn't see them ... but I saw one or two clowns being interviewed.

Clowns certainly featured in this case in my opinion. Take a certain Charlotte Pennington, for example. In September 2007 she told the Daily Mail;

 “I was in the apartment less than five minutes after they found that Madeleine had gone.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

She was contradicting her official statement to the PJ;

She did not enter the residence in question;
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/CHARLOTTE-PENNINGTON.htm

And her colleague's statement;

The witness immediately helped in the searches, whilst her colleague Charlotte remained at the crêche, looking after the other children that were there and waiting for the arrival of the last parents, after which she also began searching.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JACQUELINE_WILLIAMS.htm

“There were no children in the room. The twins had been taken out already, I think by one of the McCanns’ friends.

Miss Pennington explained that she spent the rest of the evening searching for Madeleine, before finally going to bed at 4am.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

Interesting remark about the children, but it can't be taken seriously, can it?

[Mr Gray]

Clowns certainly featured in this case in my opinion. Take a certain Charlotte Pennington, for example. In September 2007 she told the Daily Mail;

 “I was in the apartment less than five minutes after they found that Madeleine had gone.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

She was contradicting her official statement to the PJ;

She did not enter the residence in question;
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/CHARLOTTE-PENNINGTON.htm

And her colleague's statement;

The witness immediately helped in the searches, whilst her colleague Charlotte remained at the crêche, looking after the other children that were there and waiting for the arrival of the last parents, after which she also began searching.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JACQUELINE_WILLIAMS.htm

“There were no children in the room. The twins had been taken out already, I think by one of the McCanns’ friends.

Miss Pennington explained that she spent the rest of the evening searching for Madeleine, before finally going to bed at 4am.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

Interesting remark about the children, but it can't be taken seriously, can it?

You are taking a verbatim statement if here, and comparing it to the twice translated non verbatim statement in the files... The fact that they don't MST, h is evidence that the translated statements are not accurate

[Sunny]

You are taking a verbatim statement if here, and comparing it to the twice translated non verbatim statement in the files... The fact that they don't MST, h is evidence that the translated statements are not accurate

And you you said a few days ago that they were fairly accurate Davel. Which is it?

[Venturi Swirl]

Clowns certainly featured in this case in my opinion. Take a certain Charlotte Pennington, for example. In September 2007 she told the Daily Mail;

 “I was in the apartment less than five minutes after they found that Madeleine had gone.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

She was contradicting her official statement to the PJ;

She did not enter the residence in question;
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/CHARLOTTE-PENNINGTON.htm

And her colleague's statement;

The witness immediately helped in the searches, whilst her colleague Charlotte remained at the crêche, looking after the other children that were there and waiting for the arrival of the last parents, after which she also began searching.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JACQUELINE_WILLIAMS.htm

“There were no children in the room. The twins had been taken out already, I think by one of the McCanns’ friends.

Miss Pennington explained that she spent the rest of the evening searching for Madeleine, before finally going to bed at 4am.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483715/Kate-McCann-DID-scream-Theyve-taken-claims-new-nanny-witness.html

Interesting remark about the children, but it can't be taken seriously, can it?

Have you considered the possibility (highly remote I know, given the Daily Mail’s reputation as an arbiter of factual reporting) that the article writer embellished certain parts of Pennington ‘s account, and it is they and not her who are the clowns in this example?