424 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM It is always relevant to remember that Portugal comprises the territory on the European mainland6 that is historically defined as Portuguese, as well as the Azores 7 and Madeira 8 archipelagos. In a nutshell, the current contribution provides some insight from a Portuguese competition law perspective with a focus on the players in Portugal which are present in the “touristic sector” lato sensu. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has resulted in a sudden paradigm shiftwich may become definitive throughout recovery. Its aggravated impact in an activity sector with the specificities of tourism has required increased adaptation efforts of touristic services from the supply side, alongside an overwhelming adoption of measures by public authorities to incentivise the economic recovery. We are thus seeing innovative dynamics unfold, which justify a more detailed description of the measures that have been adopted by public authorities to address the consequences of the sanitary measures adopted throughout the European Union. Despite the merits when considering the recovery of the economy from an overall perspective, given their impact we should not underestimate the potential of several measures to distort competition in the tourism sector, as the structure of demand seems to have substantially decreased – at least temporarily – due to a set of circumstances which go well beyond the ones strictly related with the sector in question. To this should be added the adoption at the national and infra-national levels of several restrictions to the fundamental freedoms of movement and circulation to combat the COVID 19 pandemics and which result in supplementary restrictions to competition in the sector and are not tackled by the EU’s calls for coordination between Member States. Not to speak 6 Article 5(1) of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic. The continental part is situated at the extreme southwest of the European continent, with physical borders with Spain. 7 Situated over the mid-Atlantic ridge (in the North Atlantic part) approximately 2.000 Km from the Iberian Peninsula. In the European Commission’s decision of 4 August 2020 in case State aid SA.58101 (2020/N) – Portugal – Rescue aid to SATA, the geographic specificities of the Azores are resumed as follows: “The Region is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about 1.400 Km away from mainland Portugal and populated with 245.000 inhabitants. The Region has a small and dispersed market with limited economies of scale: six islands are below 250 km² and seven islands have less than 15.000 inhabitants each. The islands can be reached from the mainland in two to three days by sea or two hours by plane. The Region is totally dependent of air transport, especially during winter, when weather conditions often render unavailable maritime transport. The gross domestic product per capita in the Region amounts to 68% of the Union average.”. [see paragraph (15) of the decision]. 8 Together with the Azores archipelago, the Madeira one is part of the biogeographic region of Macaronesia. It is situated between 30.º and 33.º north latitude and 978 km southwest from Lisbon. According to the European Commission’s decision concerning case State aid SA.57494(2020/N) – Portugal COVID-19: Direct grant and loan guarantee scheme – Autonomous Region of Madeira”, the Portuguese authorities mention that the same region represents 2.4% of Portugal’s GDP and 2.5% of its workforce” [see paragraph (13) of the decision of 22 June].
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