My own belief is that they were lured into a false sense of security at the resort, the blame for which I place firmly at the feet of Mark Warner and Ocean Club.
There was a history of intruders and break-ins at Ocean Club Garden prior to the tapas 9 arrival and I believe that MW failed to warn their clients to be extra vigilant in the circumstances.
I very much agree with that comment. But I would add that the fact that back in 2007 the practice of visiting services was generally not uncommon in holiday resorts of all standards was also a factor in the decisions made.
It is wholly wrong in my view to neglect the importance of the benefit of hindsight when posting as we have a very different view now than was prevalent even just six years ago about these matters.
Knowing about those intruders now, knowing about the actual disappearance of Madeleine as we do now our opinions are very different to those of the people who turned up in what they perceived as the sleepy village of PDL back in 2007.
I am reminded of an occasion when I also visited such a village only in the late 1990's in Greece. I was shocked to find that doors were not locked or even closed most of the day in most of the houses while owners were out in the gardens or in the fields often some distance away. How much it felt like my childhood were in my town nobody closed doors. In fact we had a special curtain of coloured plastic strips for the front doorway in summer which hung in the open doorframe all day to allow in fresh air while keeping out at least some of the insects. When the McCanns visited PDL in this out of season period, perhaps they got a similar impression.
Without thought being given to such strong impressions, to such failures on the part of Mark Warner and the OC, to the prevailing climate of opinion, and most especially the fact that we all know better now due to hindsight etc. posts which glibly imply neglect and vindictively, in my opinion, try to hammer that idea home about the McCanns
being neglectful parents even after they have admitted their errors of judgement are at best very sad and at worst very nasty.