The 43-year-old man, currently serving a prison sentence in Germany, reportedly lived in the Algarve during periods between 1995 and 2007 and telephone records put him in the Praia da Luz area on the day Madeleine McCann disappeared.

The PJ Judiciary Police have also said that steps are being taken in Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, confirming the suspicions of involvement of a detained German citizen.

“In close articulation with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, in sharing information, in carrying out formal investigative and expert acts, in Portugal and abroad, elements were collected that indicate the possible intervention, in the disappearance of the child, of a German citizen ”, informs the Portuguese Judicial Police in a note published on its official website.

In the same note, "the Judiciary Police confirms that, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which took place in the Algarve in 2007, steps are being taken to fully clarify the situation".

The PJ added that "the family of the missing child has been informed of these investigative developments by the British authorities".

The Metropolitan Police, which is investigating the disappearance in an investigation called Operation Grange, identified a white Volkswagen branded caravan that the suspect, who was not identified, used for a living and also a Jaguar car to which he would have access.

The police also identified two mobile phone numbers, one used by the suspect and which received a call between 7:32 pm and 8:02 pm on May 3 in Praia da Luz, and another that initiated the call and which could be a “Highly significant witness”.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Deputy Commissioner Stuart Cundy said that the suspect became of interest to investigators following a public appeal in 2017, as part of the 10th anniversary of the disappearance.

“This man's name was known from our investigation. I will not give details on how it was known, but it was already known before we received new information in 2017. Since then, we have continued to work very closely with colleagues in Portugal and Germany ”, he said.

“We have good relations with colleagues in both countries. And I know that we are all determined to find out what happened and see if this man was involved in Madeleine's disappearance or not, ”he said.

Madeleine McCann disappeared a few days before she turned 4, on May 3, 2007, from the room where she slept together with her two younger brothers, in an apartment in a tourist village, in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve.

British police first formed a team in 2011 to review all available information, opening a formal inquiry the following year, having so far spent close to £ 12 million (€ 14 million).

The Judiciary Police (PJ) reopened the investigation in 2013, after the case was dismissed by the Attorney General's Office in 2008.