Does anyone know more about this sighting? Costa-del-Sol

[slartibartfast]

I notice from Karen's quote (post 66), that she mentions them as being a family with a people carrier.
The use of 'family' suggests to me that there were children present in this group.
It is very unlikely that a family group with children would kidnap another child.

If she reported it to the Spanish police, all they had to do was go down to the Campsite, find the family, ask to see Passports, check, "sorry to bother you" and leave.

[Robittybob1]

I notice from Karen's quote (post 66), that she mentions them as being a family with a people carrier.
The use of 'family' suggests to me that there were children present in this group.
It is very unlikely that a family group with children would kidnap another child.

I was looking for someone (police) to speak to the wife and the 3 kids. 2 kids had dark curly hair, and the other with straight  blond hair.  I could imagine if they were involved the parents would just need to say something like "we're going to have a visitor staying for a few months". 
Did you see the booking sheet had to include this additional child.  How often would that happen?   The whole situation is a bit odd to me.   

[G-Unit]

Oh ,,, did you have to google that too?  Despite having a Swiss acquaintance I had no idea what he sounds like when speaking at home having only heard him speaking in English which far surpasses mine.
So I used Google to see how close to German the family on the campsite may have sounded prior to making my post.

As you too will have discovered, to a non German speaker they may very well have sounded German.


Is there a difference between German and Swiss German?
Swiss German has its own pronunciation, many different words, its own grammar, and most Germans have difficulty understanding this funny language. The German-speaking Swiss write standard German, that's true - there is no Swiss German official language (but still some literature, e-mails etc. using the dialect).
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=swiss+language+german&rlz=1C1CHBH_en-GBGB727GB727&oq=swiss+language+german&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.17371j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I knew that some countries don't have a language; Switzerland, Belgium and Monaco in particular. I also knew that if I posted that without a cite one would have been demanded.

[G-Unit]

Interesting you should quote Eamonn Holmes who has a great deal of sympathy and understanding for the plight of the McCann family and Madeleine. http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/press/60april12/SKY_18_04_2012.htm

Having been subject to a burglary in 2008 his police experience appears to have been a less than positive one.


Snip
The former UTV man hit out at the Portuguese police investigation into the burglary and expressed sympathy for the parents of missing toddler Maddie McCann.

He said: “Like Kate and Gerry McCann, I’ve had dealings with the Portuguese police.

“But unlike Kate and Gerry, I was only trying to report a burglary — not the theft of my child.

“One of the things obvious to anyone dealing with the police on the Algarve is the sorry fact that no matter what you have lost, there simply isn’t enough of them to begin tracking it down.

“That may be one of the worst twists of fate in what happened to Madeleine — that tragically, she went missing in the wrong place.”

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/eamonn-holmes-robbed-of-10000-while-on-algarve-holiday-28442224.html

Eamonn Holmes may have been sympathetic but he was also astute enough to notice the flurry of 'sightings' which emerged around the 5th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance and to wonder about their provenance.

[Carana]

So if some one wrote down their registration number would they have to say the country of registration as well? 

Like they had the registration number but not the country.   So someone messed up somewhere.

I looked into this at the time (I seem to remember a photo of the plates floating around the Internet).

From memory, yes, there was a BE German plate in (fairly rare) existence at the time, but in fact the plates in question were Swiss (canton of Bern, hence BE).

And no, I'm not going to spend an entire day trying to find it again.

[Carana]

I knew that some countries don't have a language; Switzerland, Belgium and Monaco in particular. I also knew that if I posted that without a cite one would have been demanded.

What do you mean they "don't have a language"? How do they communicate then? lol

[G-Unit]

What do you mean they "don't have a language"? How do they communicate then? lol

In languages originating to other countries. Unlike England, where English is spoken, or Germany where German is spoken.

[Alice Purjorick]

I looked into this at the time (I seem to remember a photo of the plates floating around the Internet).

From memory, yes, there was a BE German plate in (fairly rare) existence at the time, but in fact the plates in question were Swiss (canton of Bern, hence BE).

And no, I'm not going to spend an entire day trying to find it again.

Given that Switzerland is not in the EU and Spain is how come the witness missed the kin great white oval with black "CH" on it stuck on the back of the vehicle ? [that is de riguer not to mention law].
Of course it's feasible they didn't bother with the niceties, well they were a hooky bunch weren't they? . So let's be unobtrusive and drive a vehicle with Swiss plates and no nationality markings through a foreign country.
What a good idea.

[Alice Purjorick]

Oh ,,, did you have to google that too?  Despite having a Swiss acquaintance I had no idea what he sounds like when speaking at home having only heard him speaking in English which far surpasses mine.
So I used Google to see how close to German the family on the campsite may have sounded prior to making my post.

As you too will have discovered, to a non German speaker they may very well have sounded German.


Is there a difference between German and Swiss German?
Swiss German has its own pronunciation, many different words, its own grammar, and most Germans have difficulty understanding this funny language. The German-speaking Swiss write standard German, that's true - there is no Swiss German official language (but still some literature, e-mails etc. using the dialect).
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=swiss+language+german&rlz=1C1CHBH_en-GBGB727GB727&oq=swiss+language+german&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.17371j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Would that be the German of the Rhineland or Bavaria? I learnt the former. A bit like Latin, all exciting stuff waiting for the verb.
Don't bother with technical German, most Germans can't understand that anyway.

We seem to be reaching this state of affairs:

"Sie kratzen den Boden eines Bierfasses" 

[Carana]

Given that Switzerland is not in the EU and Spain is how come the witness missed the kin great white oval with black "CH" on it stuck on the back of the vehicle ? [that is de riguer not to mention law].
Of course it's feasible they didn't bother with the niceties, well they were a hooky bunch weren't they? . So let's be unobtrusive and drive a vehicle with Swiss plates and no nationality markings through a foreign country.
What a good idea.

Although I do believe they're supposed to, not all Swiss cars have the big CH sticker. The plates themselves have a Swiss flag on the left and normally the cantonal flag on the right. The initial letters refer to the canton.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22swiss+license+plates%22&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Ce_1NTy10UWE_1IjgDr_1ny_1TGAdLWgJZx7fBy_1JUvQpqgWFuCX0P9RbJmFcyzXs3yZT1mrUmwaushMUzA3Oc13Uqjv1ioSCQOv-fL9MYB0EYHtv-ejNnzwKhIJtaAlnHt8HL8Ro4R_1J3RqMsMqEgklS9CmqBYW4BGdKNx7oJvJDCoSCZfQ_11FsmYVzETh6LLsjA60FKhIJLNezfJlPWasRDDndBW8_1TPgqEglSbBq6yExTMBFGhyBDDY4ihyoSCTc5zXdSqO_1WEYQD[Name removed]pm6Hv_1&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjunN[Name removed]gJnZAhWKORQKHYR_DS8Q9C96BAgAEB4&biw=1171&bih=731&dpr=2#imgrc=t1NraiiZvYpIKM:

[Eleanor]

I have known a Swiss family for a very long time.  They all speak German, French and English, although they originate from the German Speaking Sector.

Mummy and Daddy did have slightly German accents.  The children, now grown, speak much better French than I do.  And sound perfectly English.

[Alice Purjorick]

Although I do believe they're supposed to, not all Swiss cars have the big CH sticker. The plates themselves have a Swiss flag on the left and normally the cantonal flag on the right. The initial letters refer to the canton.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22swiss+license+plates%22&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:Ce_1NTy10UWE_1IjgDr_1ny_1TGAdLWgJZx7fBy_1JUvQpqgWFuCX0P9RbJmFcyzXs3yZT1mrUmwaushMUzA3Oc13Uqjv1ioSCQOv-fL9MYB0EYHtv-ejNnzwKhIJtaAlnHt8HL8Ro4R_1J3RqMsMqEgklS9CmqBYW4BGdKNx7oJvJDCoSCZfQ_11FsmYVzETh6LLsjA60FKhIJLNezfJlPWasRDDndBW8_1TPgqEglSbBq6yExTMBFGhyBDDY4ihyoSCTc5zXdSqO_1WEYQD[Name removed]pm6Hv_1&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjunN[Name removed]gJnZAhWKORQKHYR_DS8Q9C96BAgAEB4&biw=1171&bih=731&dpr=2#imgrc=t1NraiiZvYpIKM:

I was thinking more in terms of EU requirements when driving a non member state vehicle within the EU.
There are some weird regs governing that. I believe (but stand to be corrected) that the oval naionality sticker is required by EU law in this event.
I am old enough to remember when we had to have the white oval GB sticker on the back of our motors when we went beyond the soggy bits at Dover and Fishguard.

[Eleanor]

I was thinking more in terms of EU requirements when driving a non member state vehicle within the EU.
There are some weird regs governing that. I believe (but stand to be corrected) that the oval naionality sticker is required by EU law in this event.
I am old enough to remember when we had to have the white oval GB sticker on the back of our motors when we went beyond the soggy bits at Dover and Fishguard.

The French don't bother with this.  It's all on the number plate.

[Robittybob1]

The French don't bother with this.  It's all on the number plate.

But is it big enough to see it from a distance?  You see a crime in action and take down the number plate numbers, but could you see what country and area within that country the plates were issued?

[jassi]

One thing that has passed me by. If this woman was so certain in her identification, why did she not confront this family at the time?