A German man has been declared an official suspect by Portuguese prosecutors investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Christian Brueckner, 45, has been made an "arguido", but Portuguese authorities have not formally revealed the suspect's name.

In 2020 German police announced they were investigating him in connection with Madeleine's disappearance.

Brueckner has not been charged and denies any involvement in the case.

German authorities informed him he was a suspect, at the request of Portuguese prosecutors in Faro.

Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in 2007.

She has never been found and investigators believe she was abducted from the holiday apartment where the family were staying in the Algarve resort.

On Thursday, a statement was issued by prosecutors in Faro, Algarve's main city, who said a person was made an "arguido" - which translates as "named suspect", "formal suspect" or "person of interest" - a day earlier.

On 3 May it will be 15 years since Madeleine was reported missing and under Portuguese law it would no longer be possible to declare someone a person of interest beyond this date. Declaring someone a person of interest is a necessary step to any criminal charges.

In its statement, though, Portugal's office of public prosecutions said the move was not driven by timing, but by "strong indications" of the practice of a crime.

He is currently serving a prison sentence for drug offences in Germany and was also given a seven-year term for raping a 72-year-old woman.

What is arguido status?

Usually translated as “named suspect”, “formal suspect” or “person of interest”, the status of arguido – or in the case of a woman, arguida – is used in Portugal’s legal system and in other jurisdictions based on the Portuguese system.

Authorities use it to categorise someone who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness, but has not been arrested or charged.