The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry

1 The Legal Impacts of COVID-19 in the Tourism Accommodation Establishments in Spain 1 Francisca Ramón Fernández 2 Cristina Lull Noguera 3 Introduction; I. Measures Adopted in Spain in Response to COVID-19 Concerning Tourism; II. The Suspension of Opening to the Public of Tourist Accommodation Establishments; III. Declaration of Essential Services to a Series of Tourist Accommodation: Accommodation for Workers; IV Tourist Accommodation and Accommodation for People Especially Vulnerable; Conclusions; Bibliography. Introduction The World Health Organisation (WHO) assessed that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic, on 11 March 2020 4 . From those moments, Spain is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19, having declared a state of alarm by Royal Decree No. 463/2020, of 14 March, for the management of the health crisis caused by the virus 5 , and which was modified by Royal Decree No. 465/2020, of 17 March, amending Royal Decree No. 463/2020 6 . 1 Paper written within the framework of I+D+i Project «Retos investigación» (Reasearch Challenges) of the I+D+i State Progtam, oriented to the Challenges of the Society on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities: RTI2018-097354-B-100 (2019-2022). 2 Senior Lecturer in Civil Law. School of Design Engineering (ETSID). http://www.upv.es/ficha- personal/frarafer; http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0936-8229; Email: frarafer@urb.upv.es ; Polytechnic University of Valencia. 3 Lecturer hired doctor. Higher Polytechnic School of Gandía (EPSG). http://www.upv.es/ficha- personal/clull; http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9270-2365; Email : clull@upvnet.upv.es ; Polytechnic University of Valencia. 4 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION [online], 2020, available in: https://www.who.int/es [consulted on 05 April 2020]. 5 BOE No. 67, 14 March 2020. 6 BOE No. 73, 18 March 2020.