As a consumer in the north-west, I don't feel today's announcement is as good as what everyone is making out. None of these are routes that Easyjet haven't served from the north-west before, or currently do.
Take for example Lisbon. That route actually has Easyjets highest load factor out of Liverpool (I know its not the be all and end all but a good sign of its success). They now appear to be discontinuing it from there and moving it to Manchester, where they will take on TAP and Ryanair. Not only do I have one less airport to choose from when flying to Lisbon but there's a risk TAP could reduce its frequency/withdraw.
This is nothing new, and a similar pattern with Bordeaux, Innsbruck etc. As a fare paying passenger I just feel competition and choice are being whittled down from this region a little bit each year (even with Blackpool closing a few years ago, not Easyjets fault!).
I know why they do it, get more of a monopoly on something you can charge more per seat!
On the other hand, as for Barcelona, Faro and Lanzarote, I think it might just make prices more competitive between Jet2 and Ryanair. Not likely to affect any legacy or smaller carriers. In that sense I suppose that type of competition will benefit the local consumer.