Portuguese authorities have approved Met Police plans to dig for evidence in the resort where Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007.
Forensics officers will use ground penetrating radar equipment to search at three sites in Praia da Luz.
Kate McCann last week said she needs to know what happened to her daughter even if it was the “worst case scenario”.
She said: “Madeleine’s either alive or she isn’t and we can’t change that.
“Obviously our hope is that she’s alive and being well looked after but regardless of the outcome, we need to know. We all need to know.”
Madeleine disappeared aged three from the apartment she was staying in with her parents and two siblings on May 3, 2007.
In April, police revealed they were investigating five new cases in which young British girls were sexually abused during holiday home break-ins in the Algarve.
