In my opinion you paint a very bleak picture of a Portugal which in your opinion counts public perception more valuable than the rule of law and concern about justice for a missing child.
Fortunately the authorities in Britain or more to the point, in Portugal don't feel themselves constrained by limitations such as you suggest.
In my opinion justice is not a popularity contest ... it is still evidence based ... and presently the evidence being followed has led to both investigations into Madeleine's disappearance to focus on abduction.
Maybe it is a battleground ... an allegory of good versus evil?
My picture of Portugal is one of reality.
In the absence of DNA evidence, both investigations rely on goodwill. I cannot say what the situation is in the UK, because I don't track opinion aka goodwill there. In Portugal, there is a lack of goodwill, which will help neither investigation.
There is no allegory of good v evil.
There was a McCann PR unit set up to protect the parents.
It focused on the UK and ignored Portugal.
It did next to nothing for Madeleine.
Team McCann chose to ignore Portugal.
