APED demands for more customers to be allowed into shops The Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED) has once again demanded the “rapid” increase in the ratio of people in commercial spaces, which it says is in Portugal, unjustifiably “the lowest in Europe”, threatening the viability of businesses. “It is definitely necessary to rethink the issue of the ratio of people in stores in this moment of public health that we are experiencing. We have in Portugal the lowest ratio in Europe - five people per 100 square meters - unparalleled by any other member state at this time. Even countries that have another type of pandemic incidence have a higher ratio, usually at least twice as much as in Portugal”, said the general director of the APED during the presentation of the association's annual barometer.