Furnas's thermal-spa boom drives up holiday rentals and pushes up village housing prices

A spa village with more tourist beds than residents

Furnas lives off thermal tourism, with more holiday-rental listings near the Poça da Dona Beija and Parque Terra Nostra.

The profitability of tourist rentals

A home rented out by the night generates several times more than an annual residential lease.

Residents who cannot find anywhere to live

Workers at the spas and restaurants struggle to find stable housing in the village.

A pattern repeated elsewhere

The case echoes other spa towns where tourism displaces the local population.

A leading thermal destination in the Atlantic

Furnas has for decades been one of the best-known thermal destinations in the Azorean archipelago, thanks to its sulphurous waters, historic gardens and the tradition of cozido cooked underground. That reputation, reinforced in recent years by regional tourism promotion, has turned the village into a weekend getaway destination for both foreign tourists and visitors from other islands in the archipelago.

Tourist rental profitability versus residential

Local owners openly admit that a home let out for tourist stays by the night earns in a few months what an annual residential lease would bring in, making it unattractive to keep a property on the long-term rental market. This economic logic, combined with the small size of the village, has markedly reduced the stable housing supply available to those who work in the village itself.

Thermal-sector workers with no housing near their jobs

Spas such as Poça da Dona Beija and restaurants linked to thermal tourism report growing difficulty finding staff willing to work in Furnas if they cannot guarantee them stable accommodation in the village itself. Some employees choose to commute daily from Ponta Delgada or other nearby municipalities, adding time and cost to their working day.

A model that worries other spa towns

Furnas's case is being watched closely from other thermal spots in the archipelago, aware that the same pattern of residential housing being replaced by tourist accommodation could repeat itself wherever tourist appeal grows quickly. Some councils have begun considering preventive measures, such as limiting the number of tourism licences on certain streets in the historic centre.