Lisbon, June 1, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's government is set to launch an international public tender worth €3 million on Tuesday to ensure the daily distribution of print newspapers in sparsely populated areas over the next three years, a government source told Lusa.
The tender, provided for in the Media Action Plan, will have an annual value of €1 million and will be divided into two lots: one for the North and Centre regions and another for Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Alentejo and the Algarve.
With this model, the government intends to encourage the entry of new operators and promote competition in the distribution sector through a measure designed to ensure publications are delivered regularly across the entire mainland and to foster “news-rich” communities.
The government justified the public intervention by citing the evolution in newsstand sales and the population in the interior of the country, factors which have challenged the sustainability of daily newspaper distribution and led to the concentration of activity in a single operator.
According to the government, preparing the tender was “particularly complex” due to the existence of a single incumbent in the market and “serious problems” with the information shared by that operator, a situation which the latter “has since acknowledged”.
The support model rests on two pillars: direct funding of distribution through this tender and support for the operation of sales outlets in sparsely populated areas, in partnership with local authorities.
To this end, Portugal MediaLab and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities are currently discussing a model agreement.
The government calculated the financial support based on the costs of the activity, regional differences, and changes in expenses such as fuel and wages.
Accordingly, the tender provides for support for distribution in 96 low-density municipalities, with varying levels of co-financing depending on the population and population density of each municipality, with the 26 Portuguese municipalities with a population of fewer than five thousand inhabitants and less than 18 people per square kilometre receiving the highest level of co-financing (125%).
The obligations of the future successful bidder include guaranteeing at least one point of sale in every municipality on the mainland, ensuring non-discriminatory transport of different newspapers, and providing monthly detailed information on sales, costs, and points of sale.
The government will publish the notice and tender specifications on 2 June in the Diário da República and the Official Journal of the European Union, and will set aside a 60-day period for tender submissions.
PYR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
