TOURISM LAW AND COMPETITION – A PORTUGUESE PERSPECTIVE 427 by specific factors which negatively affect their growth and development. More precisely, the ORs face permanent constraints due to their insularity, small size, difficult topography, vulnerability to climate change and economic dependence on a few products, as acknowledged in Article 349 of the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”)13. In this context, European Union policies have been adjusted to their particular situation providing for specific measures to support the ORs. As regards specifically Madeira and Azores, the same are highly dependent on the services sector, with a prominent part of it linked to touristic activities. According to data published by Turismo de Portugal, in 2018 the Azores region received 718 thousand guests, whereas Madeira received 1.6 million guests. The sector generated 105 million euros in global fixed income in the Azores Region and 427 million euros in Madeira. In fact, according to public information, it is estimated that the impact of the tourism sector in Madeira’s GDP for 2019 ranges between 25%-30%. Furthermore, the sector is responsible for about 12%-15% of the existing jobs, which demonstrates its importance for regional development and in the creation of work posts14. In this context, it is relevant to note that the Azores and Madeira archipelagos “are autonomous regions with their own political and administrative statutes and self-government institutions”15. This is without prejudice to the fact that Portugal is a unitary state and “the way in which it is organised and functions shall respect the autonomous island system of self-government and the principles of subsidiarity, the autonomy of local authorities and the democratic 13 Article 349: “Taking account of the structural social and economic situation of […] the Azores, Madeira […] Islands, which is compounded by their remoteness, insularity, small size, difficult topography and climate, economic dependence on a few products, the permanence and combination of which severely restrain their development, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament, shall adopt specific measures aimed, in particular, at laying down the conditions of application of the Treaties to those regions, including common policies. Where the specific measures in question are adopted by the Council in accordance with a special legislative procedure, it shall also act on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Parliament. The measures referred to in the first paragraph concern in particular areas such as customs and trade policies, fiscal policy, free zones, agriculture and fisheries policies, conditions for supply of raw materials and essential consumer goods, State aids and conditions of access to structural funds and to horizontal Union programmes. The Council shall adopt the measures referred to in the first paragraph taking into account the special characteristics and constraints of the outermost regions without undermining the integrity and the coherence of the Union legal order, including the internal market and common policies.”. 14 Information available at https://www.ambitur.pt/covid-19-podera-ter-impacto-de-mil-milhoes-de-euros-na- -economia-regional-da-madeira/; https://www.portugal2020.pt/sites/default/files/erei_madeira_0.pdf. 15 Article 6(2) of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.
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