Gerry McCann, father of the missing five-year-old Madeleine, who disappeared in Praia da Luz in 2007, flew back to Portugal on Tuesday for the first time since returning to the UK after the disappearance of his daughter.
The family’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said that Gerry McCann was in Portugal to meet with his lawyers and discuss the search for his daughter.
“Gerry and Kate continue to search for Madeleine and do not plan on giving up. This visit to Portugal is part of our strategy to continue that search,” he said. “I can say that Gerry did not meet with police during this visit, the attorney general or the government.”
A spokesman from the British embassy told the Algarve Resident that Gerry McCann landed at Faro airport on Tuesday morning, but contrary to media reports was not met by officials upon his arrival.
“This was a private visit. Gerry McCann did meet with the Ambassador in Lisbon to discuss ways to take forward the search for Madeleine,” said the spokesman.
Gerry McCann told Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã: “I have only come to speak with my lawyers to define strategies and analyse other possibilities to continue looking for Madeleine.”
He added: “This is a short visit, but I plan to make others. I arrived this morning (Tuesday) and will leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday).”
Gerry McCann added that he was accompanied by a British lawyer, who was working with his Portuguese lawyer, Rogério Alves, with whom he also met.
At the time the Algarve Resident went to press on Wednesday, Rogério Alves was unavailable to comment.
Kate McCann did not accompany her husband on the visit.
Madeleine McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was three when she vanished from a holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in May 2007.
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