Luz, like many other towns & villages on the Algarve, realised a few decades ago that tourism was the way forward for the area to flourish. I wonder how many of the fisherman & farmers who, having contributed much to the region for years, lost their jobs & land to make way for surfing schools & hotel developments? The tourist industry is of prime importance to the region and, like the Spanish & Greeks, the locals have to swallow the rough with the smooth if they wish to keep the money pouring in. If 30 jobs at OC were the only collateral damage to Luz following Madeleine's disappearance, then imo the area escaped quite lightly. I think we'd all be interested to know if there were any other job losses in the village as a direct result of May 2007.
One of the first accusations levelled at the Tapas 9 was that they were swingers. Did that accusation demonstrate Luz's reputation, as perceived by its own country's police force, was not in keeping with the widely-promoted family-friendly holiday destination? Rather than welcoming the continued investigation into the disappearance of a child from their midst, you are suggesting that the locals have every right to be obstructive because of the effect it has had on their lives. Maybe it is this obstruction which prevented the crime from being solved a long time ago.
NB. Sergei was investigated because he was less than truthful with the PJ about his association with the 1st arguido. And a few other matters.
If you have any evidence
whatsoever that fishermen were prevented from fishing, kindly present it. Luz did not have then, and does not have now, a harbour for fishing vessels. It seems they used to string nets across the bay when the tuna came, but when the tuna stopped using Luz as a migration point, end of the fishing industry.
If you have any evidence
whatsoever that farmers were forced off
their land to develop Luz, kindly present it. The best information I have at the moment is that the bulk of the land was owned by one single lady, and if correct, that would mean farmers were renting from her before she sold up.
Collateral damage? Oh dear, I was dreading this turning up like a bad penny. Is there something about you and your husband/wife are out of a job that you do
not understand? Or perhaps further posters and further collateral damage are OK. Because there is going to be further 'collateral damage' on the 10th anniversary.
There have been many other job losses in Luz, but in honesty, I cannot say how many were due to the Madeleine effect. The OC got hit particularly hard. I would assume other businesses in Luz fared somewhat better.
To be blunt, Misty, I find your insinuation that I have approved of the vandalism distasteful. Check back through the thread.
From memory, not a single poster has approved of such vandalism. Frankly, if anyone does, the post will hit the cutting room floor faster than s**t off a shovel.
From memory, there has been widespread condemnation of the defacement, typically from McCann supporters. This has been allowed to stand in its entirety.
There has been a flagellation of the people of Luz, or a sub-set of the people of Luz, for this act of vandalism. These comments have been allowed to stand. The vandalism happened, and forum opinions on this are valid.
There has been a very grudging acceptance that perhaps people other than the McCanns suffered. However, this seems to be a balance between the greater evil (Madeleine gone) and the lesser evil (both earners redundant/'collateral damage'.)
The thread title is 'Bad feelings, redundancies and defaced posters'. It is not about May 2007 when Madeleine disappeared. It is about 2 years later when someone in Team McCann decided plastering Luz with posters was a good idea.
It wasn't.
It was unintelligent, uncaring, and it harmed the search for Madeleine, IMO. The response was entirely predictable.