Portuguese and German authorities have started a new search for Madeleine McCann in Portugal, nearly two decades after her disappearance.

Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve during a family holiday on 3 May 2007.

The British toddler’s disappearance sparked a Europe-wide police investigation, and is one of the world’s highest-profile unsolved missing person cases.

On Monday, Portuguese police confirmed the search, carried out on warrants by German prosecutors, was across 21 different plots of land – between the resort Madeleine went missing from and where the prime suspect in her disappearance had been staying.

The search – which covers the municipality of Lagos near Praia da Luz – is due to continue until Friday.

On Tuesday morning, a Portuguese fire engine and four vehicles carrying German police arrived on the search site – located around 3.5 miles from the resort where Madeleine was last seen.

Roads leading up to the site – which is sizable and mostly scrubland – have been closed off since Monday, while the day’s focus appears to be on disused buildings near the coast. A large, blue tent has also been erected in the same area.

Around 30 German police officers are expected to participate in the search.

Madeleine’s case was initially handled by the Portuguese authorities with the aid of the Metropolitan Police. In 2019, the British government said it would fund the Met Police inquiry, which began in 2011, until March 2020.

A year later, German investigators took the lead in the case when they identified German national Christian Brückner as the prime suspect.

The 48-year-old is currently serving a sentence in Germany for a separate crime – the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal in 2005. He was due to be released in September, but this could be pushed back to early 2026 if he does not pay a fine he owes.

German authorities fear that if Brückner is not charged with anything, he will disappear after his release.

They suspect him of murder but have not found enough evidence to bring charges, while Brückner repeatedly denies any involvement.

Portuguese authorities have also named Brückner as a formal suspect, or “arguido”. They said they would hand over any evidence seized in the latest search to German authorities.

Met Police, which this week said it was aware of the searches being carried out by German police in Portugal, continues its investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

The case, known as Operation Grange, has been ongoing since 2011.

Officials have not disclosed if they are conducting this latest search in Portugal based on any new information, making it appear as if they are taking one last look in places where evidence or a body could have been hidden.

German police have a European warrant, which has been approved by Portuguese prosecutors, to allow them to conduct searches on private land.

The team of German and Portuguese investigators have been given permission to search 21 plots of land between the Ocean Club resort Madeleine disappeared from and where Brückner had been staying at the time.

The previous search was two years ago, focused around a reservoir where Madeleine was last seen.

Brückner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, was found to have photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

On the night Madeleine disappeared, her parents had been at dinner with friends at a restaurant a short walk away while their three-year-old daughter and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the ground-floor apartment.

Her mother, Kate, discovered she was missing at around 22:00 local time.

A German documentary in 2022 found evidence that Brückner occasionally worked at the Ocean Club as a handyman, while German prosecutors have also linked his mobile phone data and a car sale to their case against him.

Last month, Madeleine’s parents marked the 18th year anniversary of her disappearance, saying their “determination to leave no stone unturned is unwavering”.