Praia da Luz

Luz
Civil parish
Coat of arms
Luz Location in Portugal
Coordinates: 37.101°N 8.739°W / 37.101; -8.739
Country	Portugal
Region	Algarve
Intermunic. comm.	Algarve
District	Faro
Municipality	Lagos
Area
• Total	21.78 km2 (8.41 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	3,545
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+00:00 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (WEST)
Postal code	8600
Area code	282
Patron	Nossa Senhora da Luz
Website	http://www.freguesia-luz.pt/portal/v1.0/

Praia da Luz (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpɾajɐ ðɐ ˈluʃ], changing to [- ˈluz] before a following vowel), officially Luz, is a civil parish located about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the municipality of Lagos in the Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,545, in an area of 21.78 km². Also known as Santorini de Portugal, Luz de Lagos or Vila da Luz (a contraction of its former official name, Vila da Nossa Senhora da Luz), "Praia da Luz" (which means Beach of the Light) is used to refer to both the urbanized village and the beach. The parish had its origins in a small fishing village (the industry is now only found in isolated enclaves to the west), but was transformed by several holiday-villa complexes into a tourist area.

History

The archaeological site of Roman salting and fish processing centre

Historians Estácio da Veiga and José da Encarnação have proved that settlements of Luz have existed for millennia, and that many cultures have crossed the territory. At the end of the 19th century, various castros were discovered in the area of Serro Grande, that included various funerary tombs with galleries, dating to the Neolithic period. In these sites there were vestiges of Neolithic implements, artefacts from the Iron Age, and as a rock axe discovered in Espiche. The existence of human artifacts and shell mounds in the area suggest human presence before organized civilization.

Remnants of a Roman spa are among the more important archaeological discoveries of the modern municipality. After the decline of the Pax Romana, the Algarve was visited by peoples from the lands of ancient Morocco. They established many of the fruit orchards that continue to exist in the foothills of Luz. Moorish rule in the Algarve resulted in assimilation of the indigenous cultures, transforming the region into a major economic power.

Reconquista resulted in expulsion of the Moors from the Algarve, in the institutionalization of Christianity and the building of churches. During the Middle Ages, the parish was officially referred to as Nossa Senhora da Luz.

King Manuel I, through his 1 June 1504 foral, recognized the importance of Lagos, in the Kingdom of the Algarve, for the quantity of fish catches at the time (primarily of tuna and sardine caught in Luz). Three factories eventually developed in the region, the most recent developing in 1884, which served to conserve fish in olive oil, preceding the salting of sardine in the same fashion. These factories supported 100 workers, with the majority (60) women. Much later, another factory, in Espiche, was also constructed (but today only the ruins remain). Luz was also a major producer of figs (regularly exported to the fine sweets industry that developed), while wheat and barley were being cultivated in many of the parcels around the parish seat.

Much like many of the coastal communities of Portugal, Luz was susceptible to attacks by pirates from North Africa. Luz was frequently attacked by Moors, who plied the water of the Algarve, attacked small settlements, and pillaged the treasures of the churches and homes of its residents. The priest Vicente Benevides noted that the original image of Nossa Senhora da Luz was taken by the Moors in one of those raids. Forces loyal to the King discovered the image, and the King returned it to Luz, where he ordered the construction of a fortress to safeguard the image and protect the community. Within the fortress, a tower was constructed in 1624 and a wall was later added to circle the fortress, by the then Captain-General of the Kingdom of the Algarve, the Count of Pontével.

Castelo da Senhora da Luz, a fortress constructed between 1640 and 1670

The parish of Luz was formally constituted in 1673. The origins of the settlement date to the construction of a fortress in the area of Luz, and the presence of fishermen along the coast, especially after the establishment of an industry in the 15th and 16th centuries, when sardine fishing employed around 90 men.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the parish of Luz was de-annexed from the main parish of Santa Maria.

The use of the name Praia da Luz is actually a recent trend in the vernacular. Introduced by sunbathers, it was first recorded in 1928, and its use increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, with the tourist influx. Yet there still remains a distinction between the modern civil parish of Luz, and the medieval centre, which latter includes the historical village.

Praia da Luz became more familiar to the international public in 2007, when on 3 May Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday flat (her whereabouts still remain unknown), as her parents ate at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Geography

The cliffs of Praia da Luz

Luz is located in the southwest corner of the municipality of Lagos, and covers an area of 21.78 km². It is bordered to the south by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the civil parish of Barão de São João, to the east by Santa Maria and São Sebastião, and it is adjacent to the civil parish of Budens, in the municipality of Vila do Bispo. The parish includes three settlements (Luz, Espiche and Almádena).

The relief of the parish is marked by two mountainous areas, Montinhos da Luz (99 metres) and Montinhos do Burgau (68 metres), while four ravines flow from north to south: Ribeira do Vale de Barão, Ribeira de Almadena, Ribeira de Espiche and Ribeira da Luz. The beach in Praia da Luz is an intermediate-size Blue Flag beach with two distinct zones: the white sand beach and rocky cliff zone, characteristic of the Algarve. While the waters are typically clean and transparent, its temperatures are variable, owing to the influence of the Atlantic currents.

Demographically, the older parish of Luz was a small centre. By the 18th century, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the region was decimated, and many of its residents abandoned the region. The development of the region only began in the second half of the 19th century. The census of 1893 indicated a population of fewer than 1,712 inhabitants.

Economy

Part of the beach of Praia da Luz, showing many tourists that seasonally visit

Luz is dominated by its beach, and extends as far as the cliffs of the southern coast, and part of the Algarvian Gold Coast (Template:Lang-pt). During the Age of Discovery, fishing was the spur that developed the settlements of Luz during the 13th and 14th centuries, progressing to whaling by the 16th century: it constitutes one of the more important economic poles of socio-economic development with the municipality of Lagos. Fishing, including octopus potting, was the predominant occupation in Praia da Luz until it was surpassed by tourism in the 1980s; the resort industry developed around the old fishing village.

Luz's beach and setting have attracted many visitors to the region, resulting in a shift from an economy based on fishing to one providing services for tourists. Along the beach, many of the canning plants were closed and replaced by windsurfing and diving schools, as well as discos, restaurants and shops tailored to the needs of the seasonal visitor. The once prominent casino closed, and was replaced by a local primary school, before becoming the seat of the parish government and health centre.

Similarly, many of the agricultural fields were purchased by developers, resulting in the building of many holiday villages, apartments, hotels and resorts.

Many of the fishermen became employees of the hotel industry, while the cannery employees, welders and farmers began working in civil construction.

The settlements of Luz have become holiday destinations for citizens primarily from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany, as well as residents of Portugal.

Architecture

The Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz, reconstructed in 1874 by local contributions after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake

The visitor to Luz encounters many façades with Manueline-era architectural motifs. There are many habitational structures that correspond to the estilo chão ("ground style") typical of the rural buildings that date back to the end of the 18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, many of the more official homes and buildings began to appear in the Algarvian Neo-baroque style. Meanwhile, the period was also marked by simple single-storey homes, covered in tiled roofs, typical of Luz.

Civic

• Mr. Biller's Garden (Template:Lang-pt)
• Roman Archaeological Site of Praia da Luz: located on a promontory overlooking the village, there are few visible signs of this archaeological discovery, which consists of a small Roman bath complex located alongside the main parochial church

Military

• Atalaia Tower (Template:Lang-pt)
• Castle of Senhora da Luz (Template:Lang-pt), is a 17th-century military stronghold, constructed to support the defense of the southern Algarve, located along the Ponta da Calheta;

Religious

• Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Template:Lang-pt). Dedicated to Our Lady of the Light, this medieval church was built around 1521, and was routinely sacked in the 15th and 16th centuries, resulting in the construction of protective walls and defences. During the 1755 Lisbon earthquake it was badly damaged, and its restoration (1874) was funded by local contributions. In the 20th century, two events (a violent storm and the 1969 earthquake) caused similar damage to the church body.

Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) disappeared on the evening of 3 May 2007 from her bed in a holiday apartment at a resort in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The Daily Telegraph described the disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".[3] Her whereabouts remain unknown,[4] and German prosecutors in 2020 have stated that they assume that she is dead.[5]

Madeleine was on holiday from the UK with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann; her two-year-old twin siblings; and a group of family friends and their children. She and the twins had been left asleep at 20:30 in the ground-floor apartment, while the McCanns and friends dined in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away.[6] The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Kate discovered she was missing at 22:00. Over the following weeks, particularly after misinterpreting a British DNA analysis, the Portuguese police came to believe that Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and that her parents had covered it up. The McCanns were given arguido (suspect) status in September 2007, which was lifted when Portugal's attorney general archived the case in July 2008 for lack of evidence.[7][8]

The parents continued the investigation using private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own inquiry, Operation Grange, in 2011. The senior investigating officer announced that he was treating the disappearance as "a criminal act by a stranger", most likely a planned abduction or burglary gone wrong.[9] In 2013, Scotland Yard released e-fit images of men they wanted to trace, including one of a man seen carrying a child toward the beach that night.[10] Shortly after this, the Portuguese police reopened their inquiry.[11] Operation Grange was scaled back in 2015, but the remaining detectives continue to pursue a small number of inquiries described in April 2017 as significant.[12][13] In June 2020, the police in the German city Braunschweig stated there was a new suspect in McCann's disappearance.[14][5]

The disappearance attracted sustained international interest and saturation coverage in the UK reminiscent of the death of Diana in 1997.[15] The McCanns were subjected to intense scrutiny and baseless allegations of involvement in their daughter's death,[a] particularly in the tabloid press and on Twitter.[19][20] In 2008 they and their travelling companions received damages and apologies from Express Newspapers,[21] and in 2011 the McCanns testified before the Leveson Inquiry into British press misconduct, lending support to those arguing for tighter press regulation.[22][23]

Thursday, 3 May 2007 20:30: Tapas restaurant Thursday, 3 May, was the penultimate day of the family's holiday. Over breakfast Madeleine asked: "Why didn't you come when [her brother] and I cried last night?" After the disappearance, her parents wondered whether this meant someone had entered the children's bedroom. Her mother also noticed a large brown stain on Madeleine's pyjama top.[45]

The children spent the morning in the resort's Kids' Club, then the family lunched at their apartment before heading to the pool.[42] Kate took the last known photograph of Madeleine at 2:29 that afternoon, sitting by the pool next to her father and two-year-old sister.[46] The children returned to Kids' Club, then at 18:00 their mother took them back to 5A, while their father went for a tennis lesson.[42] The McCanns put the children to bed at around 19:00. Madeleine was left asleep in short-sleeved, pink-and-white Marks and Spencer's Eeyore pyjamas, next to her comfort blanket and a soft toy, Cuddle Cat.[47]

At 20:30 the parents left 5A to dine with their friends in the Ocean Club's open-air tapas restaurant, located on the other side of the pool.[48] 5A lay about 55 metres (160 ft) from the restaurant as the crow flies, but getting to the restaurant involved walking along a public street to reach the doors of the Ocean Club resort, then walking through the resort to the other side of the pool, a distance of about 82 metres (295 ft).[6] The top of the apartment was visible from the tapas restaurant, but not the doors. The patio doors could be locked only from the inside, so the McCanns left them closed but unlocked, with the curtains drawn, so they could let themselves in that way when checking on the children. There was a child-safety gate at the top of the steps from the patio and a low gate at the bottom, which led to the street.[48]

The resort's staff had left a note in a message book at the swimming-pool reception area, asking that the same table, which overlooked the apartments, be block-booked for 20:30 for the McCanns and friends every evening for the last four evenings of the holiday. The message said the group's children were asleep in the apartments. Madeleine's mother believes the abductor may have seen the note.[49] The McCanns and their friends left the restaurant roughly every half-hour to check on their children. Madeleine's father carried out the first check on 5A at around 21:05. The children were asleep and all was well, except that he recalled having left the children's bedroom door slightly ajar, and now it stood almost wide open. He pulled it nearly closed again before returning to the restaurant.[48]

21:15: Tanner sighting The sighting by Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas Seven, of a man carrying a child that night became an important part of the early investigation. She had left the restaurant just after 21:00 to check on her own daughter, passing Madeleine's father on Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins on his way back to the restaurant from his 21:05 check. He had stopped to chat to a British holidaymaker,[52] but neither man recalled having seen Tanner. This puzzled the Portuguese police, given how narrow the street was, and led them to accuse Tanner of having invented the sighting.[53]

Tanner told the police that at around 21:15 she had noticed a man carrying a young child walk across the junction of Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins and Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva just ahead of her. He was not far from Madeleine's bedroom, heading east, away from the front of apartment 5A.[54] In the early days of the investigation, the direction in which he was walking was thought to be important, because he was moving toward the home of Robert Murat, the 33-year-old British-Portuguese man who lived near apartment 5A, and who became the case's first suspect.[55][56][57]

The child in the man's arms was wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, similar to Madeleine's. Tanner described the man as white, dark-haired, 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, of southern European or Mediterranean appearance, 35–40 years old, wearing gold or beige trousers and a dark jacket, and said he did not look like a tourist. According to Kate, Tanner passed the information to the Portuguese police as soon as Madeleine was reported missing, but they did not pass the description to the media until 25 May.[58] Madeleine's Fund hired a forensic artist to create an image of the man, which was released in October 2007.[59][60]

The sighting became important because it offered investigators a time frame for the abduction, but Scotland Yard came to view it as a red herring.[50] In October 2013, they said that a British holidaymaker had been identified as the man Tanner had seen; he had been returning to his apartment after collecting his daughter from the Ocean Club night creche.[61] Scotland Yard took photographs of the man wearing the same or similar clothes to the ones he was wearing on the night, and standing in a pose similar to the one Tanner reported. The pyjamas his daughter had been wearing also matched Tanner's report. Operation Grange's lead detective, DCI Andy Redwood, said they were "almost certain" the Tanner sighting was not related to the abduction.[50][62]

22:00: Smith sighting The rejection of the Tanner sighting as crucial to the timeline allowed investigators to focus on another sighting of a man carrying a child that night, this one reported to the Portuguese police on 26 May 2007 by Martin and Mary Smith, who had been in Praia da Luz on holiday from Ireland.[63] Scotland Yard concluded in 2013 that the Smith sighting offered the approximate time of Madeleine's kidnap.[10][64]

The Smiths saw the man at around 22:00 on Rua da Escola Primária, 500 yards (460 m) from the McCanns' apartment, walking away from the Ocean Club and toward Rua 25 de Abril and the beach. He was carrying a girl aged 3–4 years. She had blonde hair and pale skin, was wearing light-coloured pyjamas, and had bare feet. The man was mid-30s, 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in (1.75–1.80 m), slim-to-normal build, with short brown hair, wearing cream or beige trousers. He did not look like a tourist, according to the Smiths, and had seemed uncomfortable carrying the child.[65][66] E-fits based on the Smiths testimony were first created in 2008 by Oakley International, private investigators hired by the McCanns, and were publicized in 2013 by Scotland Yard on Crimewatch.[67]

22:00: Reported missing Madeleine's mother had intended to check on the children at 21:30, but Matthew Oldfield, one of the Tapas Seven, offered to do it when he checked on his own children in the apartment next door to 5A. He noticed that the McCanns' children's bedroom door was wide open, but after hearing no noise, he left 5A without looking far enough into the bedroom to see whether Madeleine was there. He could not recall whether the bedroom window and its exterior shutter were open at this point. Early on in the investigation, the Portuguese police accused Oldfield of involvement because he had volunteered to do the check, suggesting to him that he had handed Madeleine to someone through the bedroom window.[42][68]

Kate made her own check of 5A at around 22:00. Scotland Yard said in 2013 that Madeleine was probably taken moments before this.[69] Kate recalled entering the apartment through the unlocked patio doors at the back, and noticing that the children's bedroom door was wide open. When she tried to close the door, it slammed shut as though there was a draught, which is when she saw that the bedroom window and its shutter were open. Madeleine's Cuddle Cat and pink blanket were still on the bed, but Madeleine was gone. After briefly searching the apartment, Kate ran back towards the restaurant, screaming "Madeleine's gone! Someone's taken her!"[70]

At around 22:10 Madeleine's father sent Matthew Oldfield to ask the resort's reception desk to call the police, and at 22:30 the resort activated its missing-child search protocol.[71] Sixty staff and guests searched until 04:30, at first assuming that Madeleine had wandered off. One of them told Channel 4's Dispatches that, from one end of Luz to the other, you could hear people calling her name.[72]

Early response Portuguese police Two officers from the gendarmerie, the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), arrived at the resort at 23:10 from Lagos, five miles (8 km) away.[73] At midnight, after briefly searching, they alerted the criminal police, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), in nearby Portimão. Kate McCann said the PJ arrived just after 01:00.[74] According to the PJ, they arrived within 10 minutes of being alerted.[75] At 02:00 two patrol dogs were brought to the resort and at 08:00 four search-and-rescue dogs.[76] Police officers had their leave cancelled and started searching waterways, wells, caves, sewers and ruins.[37][77] Inspector Gonçalo Amaral, head of the PJ in Portimão, became the inquiry's coordinator.[78]

It was widely acknowledged that mistakes were made during the so-called "golden hours" soon after the disappearance. Neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours, and officers did not make house-to-house searches.[79][80] According to Kate, roadblocks were first put in place at 10:00 the next morning.[65] Police did not request motorway surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz the night of the disappearance, or of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border. Euroscut, the company that monitors the road, said they were not approached for information.[81] It took Interpol five days to issue a global missing-person alert.[65]

Not everyone in the resort at the time was interviewed; holidaymakers later contacted the British police to say no one had spoken to them.[80] The crime scene was not secured. Police took samples from Madeleine's bedroom, which were sent to three forensic labs in Portugal. It was reported on 1 June 2007 that DNA from one "stranger" had been found, but around 20 people had entered apartment 5A before it was closed off, according to Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa of the PJ.[82][53] According to Madeleine's mother, an officer placed tape across the doorway of the children's bedroom, but left at 03:00 without securing the apartment.[74] The PJ case file, released in 2008, showed that 5A lay empty for a month after the disappearance, then was let out to tourists before being sealed off in August 2007 for more forensic tests.[38][83] A similar situation arose outside the apartment. A crowd gathered by the front door of 5A, including next to the children's bedroom window—through which an abductor may have entered or left—trampling on evidence.[84] An officer dusted the bedroom window's exterior shutter for fingerprints without wearing gloves or other protective clothing.[53]

See also

• Almádena
• Espiche