The disappearance of Madeleine McCann, 12 months ago today, changed Praia da Luz, perhaps forever, writes Sandra O'Connell
WOULD YOU holiday in Praia da Luz? For tourism operators in the picturesque village, in the Algarve in Portugal, it's the $60 million dollar question that only this summer will answer.
Today marks a year since Madeleine McCann, who was then three years old, disappeared from the Ocean Club resort, and the sadness that replaced her is everywhere. The tiny Catholic church, so familiar from news footage of her parents' visits, holds the last of her missing posters. It is taped above prayer candles, to the left of the altar, the words "Pray for me" written above it.
The village's centrepiece, the crescent-shaped beach backed to the east by a soaring cliff, is instantly recognisable from holiday snaps of the sun-hatted youngster with her bucket and spade.
Turn a corner and with another jolt of recognition you are on the quiet street from which she disappeared, the one that looked so menacing on the news but is in fact sand-strewn and sunny.
Although Madeleine's name is the first thing people mention when you tell them you are going to Praia da Luz, it is the last topic the village's tourist sector wants to discuss. It is understandable in a region where tourism is a major source of employment. "Last year most people had booked their holiday by the time it happened, so we had few cancellations," said one operator. "What we can't know is how many late bookers never came as a result of it."
As for this season, it's a question of waiting and seeing. It will be a tough year anyway, according to another local operator, what with sterling so weak against the euro and the credit crunch beginning to kick in. Still another points out that holidaymakers here tend to return year after year, and so have a history that will not be broken by one incident. In truth, though, with so many new developments having sprung up in the past few years, and still more in train, it was always going to take more than repeat business to keep occupancy rates up.
Where the topic of Madeleine does arise, a recurring theme among people here is that, whatever happened to her, Praia da Luz is not to blame.
It's hard to disagree. Yet any reluctance among holidaymakers to come here is unlikely to be because they believe it to be any more or less safe than anywhere else but simply because it carries a resonant sadness. And who wants that on their holiday?
Visiting the sparsely populated village on a beautifully sunny spring day is possibly misleading. Any resort out of season can seem dispiriting. It's just that, because of its recent history, Praia da Luz seems so more than most.
It is, however, surprising, too. For a start, if you thought the Algarve was a geographically disjointed continuation of the overdeveloped south of Spain, it's not. The western Algarve is wonderfully unspoilt, with planners who have learned from their neighbours' mistakes - and, indeed, their own farther up the coast. Buildings are capped at three storeys and must be sympathetic to the landscape.
And what a landscape it is. The drive from Faro west along a new motorway takes an hour and cuts through a scene of rolling hills, unkempt olive groves and occasional cypresses. If the patchwork were only a little more neatly stitched, it could be Tuscany.
Surprising, too, is Luz's size. Despite being a centre of the world's media for months on end last year - and at least one UK reporter still lives in a hotel there - Praia da Luz is tiny. Too many sunshine resorts are touted as former fishing villages. Here you can believe it. Its small centre has the kind of plain houses that denote an era before mass tourism.
Spreading out from the centre, the property profile changes to apartment blocks followed by a swathe of new hacienda-style villas. Many are home to the area's large British expatriate community. And it is large. An English-language radio station plays on the bus from the airport. Advertising hoardings are in English. Signs for English breakfasts and Sunday roasts are common. The majority of people in evidence are either retirees, here for a climate where winter sunshine can be as warm as that in an Irish summer, or couples with preschoolers.
Physically, the main appeal of the village is its sheltered cove, which is sandy at one end and rocky at the other. Presiding over all is the cliff, with a nature trail that leads up to an obelisk from which you can see all the way down the coast to Sagres, the point where Portugal stops going across the map and starts to go up.
It is from up here, too, that you see just how small Praia da Luz is. The ring of villas skirting the town quickly gives way to fields with families still out working in them, with bells on livestock clunking in the distance. The irony is just how idyllic, how peaceful and, indeed, how safe it feels.
There is much to see and do in the wider area. One of the nicest places to visit is the walled town of Lagos, a 15-minute drive away. An archetypal Portuguese town, with black-and-white pavement designs and whitewashed buildings, almost all of it was rebuilt after the last devastating event to occur here, the earthquake and subsequent tsunami of 1755.
One building miraculously survived; fittingly enough, it was the church. St Anthony's, also known as the Golden Church because of its overgilded altar, is now a museum. Just across from it is a (rebuilt) 15th-century black slave market, the first of its kind in Europe. Around the corner is a statue of Prince Henry the Navigator, who also lived in the 15th century, a reminder of Portugal's former seafaring might.
Henry spent much of his life in Sagres, which is about half an hour down the coast. It too is well worth visiting, and not only by surfers attracted by its location, on the country's southwesternmost tip, which the Greek historian Strabo described as the end of the earth.
The landscape is suitably dramatic here, with cliffs towering over crashing seas. It also has a wealth of ancient remains, including medieval fortresses, a 40m (140ft) wind compass built for Prince Henry, the ruins of a Roman kiln and a one-and-a-half-kilometre menhir walk dating from 3000 BC. There is much for nature lovers to enjoy in the region, with numerous wildlife reserves and terrific hiking up the Monchique Mountains.
For Praia da Luz, however, the problem is that the beauty of the surrounding countryside can be enjoyed from anywhere else along the coast, from the neighbouring village of Burgau right down to Sagres.Which means the real question is: why would you holiday here?
Where to stay, eat and go
Where to stay
Sandra O'Connell stayed at Vila Baia (Rua Alfredo do Nascimento Batista, Praia da Luz, 00-351-282-790882 www.oceanicoresorts.com), a four-star apartment development in a very quiet pocket 200m from the beach. It has a good restaurant, two outdoor swimming pools, a children's playground and a tennis court. Prices for a two-bedroom apartment range from €170 a night in June to €244 a night in July and August.
Alternatively, stay at its very swish sister resort, Jardim da Meia Praia (Albardeira Meia Praia, Lagos, 00-351-282- 767546, www.oceanicoresorts. com), a town-house development with a distinctly Moorish theme. Two-bedroom apartments here cost €271 a night in high season, with a minimum two-night stay.
If you don't want self-catering, Hotel Belavista da Luz (Praia da Luz, 00-351-282- 788655, www.hotelbelavista daluz.com) overlooks the bay at Luz, is built around two swimming pools and has a tennis court and gym. A four-person suite costs €245, including buffet breakfast.
Where to eat
The Lime Tree restaurant (475 Rua 25 de Abril, 00-351-282-789475), on the one-way road into the village from Burgau, offers nouveau cuisine but with large portions. Specialises in seafood and considered pricey for Luz, so great value compared to home.
Alloro (Rua Alfredo do Nascimento Batista, 00-351- 282-790882) is an Italian restaurants on the grounds of Vila Baia, open to non-residents, that serves some familiar items (Irish breakfasts) and some less familiar (Irish pizza).
For a show-stopper, check out Estrela do Mar (Avenida dos Descobrimentos, Lagos, 00-351-282-769250). It has an unrivalled location directly over the fish market in Lagos, with panoramic views out to the sea. Specialises in traditional Algarvian fish and shellfish dishes. Mains about €14.
Where to go
The oldest building in Luz is a set of Roman baths dating to the third century. Fronting on to the beach, and incongruously surrounded on three sides by modern holiday homes, they are open to the public - but blink and you'll miss the tiny gate in the wall that lets you in.
The coastal walk from Luz to Burgau and on to Salema is spectacular, with some of the most dramatic views on the Algarve. Burgau is particularly rewarding, being a working fishing village.
For wild, unspoilt coastline, the land between the two headlands of Sagres and Cape St Vincent, and that running north from the lighthouse on the latter, is a magnificent wilderness, with the Azores as its neighbouring parish.
Go there
Sandra O'Connell travelled from Dublin to Faro with Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com), courtesy of Oceanico Developments. Aer Lingus flies to Faro throughout the summer from Dublin, Cork and Belfast. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) also flies to Faro in the summer months from Dublin and Shannon.