The PORTUGUESE PERSPECTIVE

We have just returned from 14 days in Portugal and during our time there sought the opinion of both Portuguese people and ex-pats on the Madeleine alleged abduction.
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The initial reaction on every occasion was that "such a crime does not happen in Portugal".  On being pressed this was qualified by "the crime of abduction by a stranger does not happen in Portugal".
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Without exception everyone considered that whatever happened to Madeleine, if she had been abducted, was the fault of the parents leaving the children unattended and that the McCanns should have been immediately prosecuted.   Most people were also of the opinion that the parents could be involved in the events of May 3rd and many were prepared to state that they agreed with the conclusions arrived at by Detective Amaral.  It was obvious from some of the conversations that many had a good understanding of all the details of the case and were following all the happenings with total interest.
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Much off the "evidence" and "theories" attached to Madeleines disappearance were well understood by the majority and this was kept before them by the Portuguese Media.   They considered that the British Media Circus being created by the McCanns was doing little to attract any sympathy and considered as counter productive.  Most felt more effort should be put into the actual search.  Why were the McCanns convinced that they should continue fund raising when their Daughter could be found at any time?
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Many other questions were asked and discussed, all of which have been raised in the past on this Blog and by various links - so interest was indeed high.  It was generally considered that the chance of finding Madeleine alive was very remote, as with such World wide publicity she would be of little use to any abducter.
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It was interesting from our point of view how similar the thoughts were of those we spoke to in Portugal, and how their reasoning and conclusions so closely met those of many UK people we have also interviewed.
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