Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have sealed off a large area of scrubland in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.
The British girl was three when she went missing in the resort in 2007.
On 22 May Scotland Yard said a "substantial phase of operational activity" would start in Portugal in the coming weeks.
The BBC understands that has started, with Portuguese police at the scene and UK officers expected to join them.
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Police are expected to use "ground-penetrating radar" to search the area, as Tom Burridge reports from Praia da Luz
Police are expected to use dogs and "ground penetrating radar" to search the area, looking for disturbed earth.
The scrubland is being searched after a request from the Metropolitan Police. Similar requests have been made for two other locations in Praia da Luz.
The area was surrounded by flats and villas, many of them holiday properties.
A 77-year-old man who has lived near the area of scrubland for 13 years told the BBC the latest search was "ridiculous".
"The police have been here before," said the man, who did not want to be named.
"We all helped search this area three or four days after it [Madeleine's disappearance] happened.
"I walk my dog every day and no one was digging holes."
At the scene By Lauren TurnerThe first residents knew of anything happening on this scrubland was when they were disturbed by barking dogs in the early hours.
The private land - earmarked for a development that was never built - was accessible last night but is now completely sealed off by the yellow and white tape of the GNR, the national police.
Portuguese officers, wearing sunglasses in the fierce sunshine, are standing guard at the perimeter of the site, which stretches down towards the coast.
The police have been joined by a large contingent from the media, who have cameras trained on the ground as they await developments. The only words being exchanged between officers and journalists is the occasional "bom dia" - or "good morning".
The scene is being watched too by locals walking past, or on their morning jog, and those in holiday apartments with balconies overlooking the Atlantic.
The view would ordinarily be picturesque but has been transformed today as the eyes of the world turn to this small Algarve resort again.
Stewart Drummond, 68, from Eaglesham, near Glasgow, who has been coming to Praia da Luz with his wife Janice for 27 years, said: "It's a pity it's taken so long to get to this stage.
"Talking to locals especially, they feel that they want to move on.
"Every time anything happens, it puts the resort back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
"But obviously everyone wants to see closure for the McCann family and if they find something, it would give them that.
"As parents, we feel for the family - for it to happen in such a 'safe' place makes it all the more tragic."
Mrs Drummond said she thought holidaymakers would not be put off coming to the resort by the latest developments.
"I don't think people were really aware this would be happening this week though.
"For the first year or two some British families stayed away but now it's back to normal."
Scotland Yard launched a fresh investigation into Madeleine's disappearance last July, codenamed Operation Grange.
In March, British police said they were seeking an intruder who sexually abused five girls in Portugal between 2004 and 2006.
Detectives said the attacks happened in holiday villas occupied by UK families in the Algarve.
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